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western #20, 'rashomon.' [another day, another movie.]

By • On • In another day. another movie., scott • 1 min read

Rashomon was a story of an apparent murder and rape, told after the trial in which four people tell four different versions of what happened, and who each person blames for the murder isn’t who you’d expect.

It was more proof that Kurosawa was amazing. I could say the same things about this movie that I said about the others.

After the 30 days of 30 Westerns is over it won’t be long before I’ve watched all the Kurosawa I can get my hands on.

He was making movies in the 50’s, for mainstream Japanese cinema, filled with beauty, wisdom, and ambiguity; movies that challenged the assumptions and ignorance of his time, his movies even questioned themselves.

He also worked a lot with the same cast members, which is fun both because you get to see characters take on such different roles, and it also feels like seeing old friends again.

Rashomon made fun of sexism, but in a way that for most of the movie it just made you wonder if he was being sexist. And, in a brilliant “fight” scene Kurosawa also made fun of men pretending they are far tougher and stronger than they are.

The movie was subtle and perfect.

Americans, get over your aversion to subtitles and watch some damned Kurosawa!!

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western #8, 'seven samurai.' [another day, another movie.]

By • On • In another day. another movie., scott • 1 min read

Holy shit, this movie was magnificent! Everything about it was nothing short of amazing.

There is no possible hyperbole when praising Kurosawa. This is only my third film from his catalogue, but I am just blown away by his ability to visually tell a story. The stuff he was doing in the 50’s… it’s just unbelievable.

Seven Samurai is poignant, sweet, sentimental, brutal, hilarious, and filled with depth and wisdom. It was absolutely stunning, this story of tender warriors, protecting the innocent, some making the ultimate sacrifice willingly.

The acting was also fantastic. It was brilliant across the board, but none more so than in the case of our old friend Toshiro Mifune. He exhibited an amazing ability to act hilariously insane and unhinged, and then suddenly become the emotional anchor of a moment, sometimes in the same scene.

This movie was spellbinding. I really can’t believe how good it was. I genuinely felt for each character, even though each was developed with a wonderful subtlety. I have no clue as to the backstory of most of the characters, outside of the fact that they were ronin, and yet Kurosawa’s skillful writing and directing, coupled with amazing performances simply worked each character into my heart.

It was around three and a half hours long, and I was sad to see it end. Easily my favorite movie so far.

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western #4, 'sanjuro.' [another day, another movie.]

By • On • In another day. another movie., scott • 1 min read

Okay, so this wasn’t really a ‘Western’ at all. It was more of a ‘Samurai Comedy.’ It is the sequel to Yojimbo, and after loving the first film so much, I couldn’t help myself. I assumed some of the themes and feel would carry over from film to film, but they didn’t. This had nothing to do with the John Ford, American Western aesthetic that Kurosawa used for Yojimbo (among others).

It still had plenty of enjoyable moments, and was certainly worth my 90 minutes… especially closet guy, I loved closet guy.

However, not a Western. Maybe I’ll add a day onto the end to make up for it.

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western #1, 'yojimbo.' [another day, another movie.]

By • On • In another day. another movie., scott • 2 min read

The month of westerns is underway, and Mr. Akira Kurosawa kicked things off in style.

There are loads of popular westerns. Some are as popular and famous as the “Man with No Name” trilogy (or the “Dollars” trilogy as it is sometimes called), but there are none more so. Popular culture still offers frequent homages and tips of the cap to Clint Eastwood as the main character in three films which can be understood as the adventures of one lone wanderer, whose name we never learn.

Eastwood obviously starred in more westerns, many of them argued as better than the “Man with No Name” films, but those big three, culminating in the prequel of sorts, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, are the best known.

The first of that trilogy was A Fistful of Dollars, which will be Western #2, and that film is a punch for punch adaptation of Kurosawa’s Yojimbo. It is just one of many occasions in which some of the most significant films about the American west were directly adapted from Japanese cinema.

Let me tell you folks, Yojimbo is legit. I loved every damned minute of it.

Kurosawa was influenced by Irish American director John Ford, who directed western classics such as The Searchers, Stagecoach, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. The first two of those three are on AFI’s “100 Years, 100 Movies” list, cataloguing the 100 greatest and most important films of the first 100 years of cinema. He took the western theme and set it in Japan, turning cowboys into samurai.

However, while he was largely influenced by American westerns, it was he who is largely responsible for the trend in westerns to tell the story of one lone man beating the odds and a load of bad guys in the process.

Yojimbo is responsible for that trend.

The main character is fantastic. We never learn his name, although he makes a name up while looking out the window at Mulberry Fields, calling himself “Mulberry Fields, Age 30.” He is the ultimate badass, often to hilarious results.

Every scene is remarkably well shot. The score is great. And as alluded above, Toshirô Mifune, as the mysterious, masterless samurai, is brilliant. If I didn’t have so many westerns to watch this month, I would probably watch this one again pretty soon.

I can’t wait to watch more Kurosawa, and if the rest of the month holds up like day 1, this ridiculous idea will also go down as one of my best.

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