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Akira Kurosawa (黒澤明 or 黒沢明, Kurosawa Akira, March 23, 1910 – September 6, 1998) was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed 30 films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema.
IMDb provides an extensive overview of the life and work of Akira Kurosawa, one of the most influential and acclaimed filmmakers of all time. Learn about his early career, his collaborations with Toshirô Mifune, his adaptations of Western genres and authors, his international fame and legacy.
- January 1, 1
- Tokyo, Japan
- January 1, 1
- Tokyo, Japan
- Overview
- Early life
- First films
- Films of the 1950s
Kurosawa Akira (born March 23, 1910, Tokyo, Japan—died September 6, 1998, Tokyo) first Japanese film director to win international acclaim, with such films as Rashomon (1950), Ikiru (1952), Seven Samurai (1954), Throne of Blood (1957), Kagemusha (1980), and Ran (1985).
Kurosawa’s father, who had once been an army officer, was a teacher who contributed to the development of athletics instruction in Japan. After leaving secondary school, Kurosawa attended an art school and began painting in the Western style. Although he was awarded important art prizes, he gave up his ambition to become a painter and in 1936 becam...
In 1943 Kurosawa was promoted to director and made his first feature film, Sanshiro Sugata, from his own scenario; this story of Japanese judo masters of the 1880s scored a great popular success. In 1944 he made his second film, Ichiban utsukushiku (The Most Beautiful), a story about girls at work in an arsenal. Immediately thereafter, he married the actress who had played the leading part in the picture, Yaguchi Yoko; they had two children, a son and a daughter. In August 1945, when Japan offered to surrender in World War II, he was shooting his picture Tora no o fumu otokotachi (They Who Step on the Tiger’s Tail), a parody of a well-known Kabuki drama. The Allied occupation forces, however, prohibited the release of most films dealing with Japan’s feudal past, and this outstanding comedy was not distributed until 1952.
Kurosawa’s Waga seishun ni kuinashi (1946; No Regrets for Our Youth) portrays the history of Japanese militarism from 1933 through the end of the war in terms of a person executed on suspicion of espionage during the war. Of the many postwar films criticizing Japanese militarism, this was the most successful, both artistically and commercially. It was Yoidore tenshi (1948; Drunken Angel), however, that made Kurosawa’s name famous. This story of a consumptive gangster and a drunken doctor living in the postwar desolation of downtown Tokyo is a melodrama intermingling desperation and hope, violence, and melancholy. The gangster was portrayed by a new actor, Mifune Toshirō, who became a star through this film and who subsequently appeared in most of Kurosawa’s films.
Kurosawa’s Rashomon was shown at the Venice Film Festival in 1951 and was awarded the Grand Prix. It also won the Academy Award for best foreign-language film. This was the first time a Japanese film had won such high international acclaim, and Japanese films now attracted serious attention all over the world. An adaptation of two short stories written by Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, the film deals with a samurai, his wife, a bandit, and a woodcutter in the 10th century; a rape and a murder are recollected by the four persons in distinctly different ways. This presentation of the same event as seen by different persons caught the imagination of the audience and advanced the idea of cinema as a means of probing a metaphysical problem.
Ikiru (“To Live”) is regarded by many critics as one of the finest works in the history of the cinema. It concerns a petty governmental official who learns he has only half a year until he will die from cancer. He searches for solace in the affection of his family but is betrayed, then seeks enjoyment but becomes disillusioned, and, in the end, is redeemed by using his position to work for the poor. In this film, which abounds in strong moral messages, Kurosawa depicts in an extremely realistic manner the collapse of the family system, as well as the hypocritical aspects of officials in postwar Japanese society. The picture was an outstanding document of the life and the spiritual situation of Japanese people, who were then beginning to recover from the desperation caused by defeat in the war.
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The epic Shichinin no samurai (Seven Samurai) is considered the most entertaining of Kurosawa’s films and also his greatest commercial success. It depicts a village of peasants and a few leaderless samurai who fight for the village against a gang of marauding bandits. Although it was inspired by his admiration of Hollywood westerns, it was executed in an entirely Japanese style. Somewhat ironically, Kurosawa’s film later served as the inspiration for one of the greatest American westerns, John Sturges’s The Magnificent Seven (1960).
Ikimono no kiroku (1955; I Live in Fear, or Record of a Living Being) is a deeply honest film portraying a Japanese foundry owner’s terror of the atomic tests conducted by the United States and the Soviet Union. Its pessimistic conclusion, however, made it a commercial failure.
- Tadao Sato
This includes a complete list of films with which he was involved (including the films on which he worked as assistant director before becoming a full director ), as well as his little-known contributions to theater, television and literature.
YearEnglish TitleJapanese TitleRomanized Title1943姿三四郎Sugata Sanshirō1944一番美しくIchiban utsukushiku1945續姿三四郎Zoku Sugata Sanshirō1945虎の尾を踏む男達Tora no o wo fumu otokotachi- The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail (1945) Denjiro Okochi steals the show in this highly entertaining period film. Okochi plays the leader of a group of samurai who disguise themselves as monks in order to sneak their lord through enemy lines.
- The Most Beautiful (1944) By 1944, it was apparent Japan would lose World War II. Despite facing imminent defeat, Japanese filmmakers were encouraged to make “spiritist” films: movies showing ordinary civilians dedicated to the national cause.
- Sanjuro (1962) A clever and amusing follow-up to Kurosawa’s previous film, Yojimbo (1961). In the original, Toshiro Mifune’s wisecracking samurai pitted two imbecilic gangs against one another to wipe them both out; here, he takes a side, trying to help besieged (rather, naive) people take a stand against their persecutors.
- Scandal (1950) Even lesser Kurosawa films tend to have fascinating components and scenes of tremendous power. Scandal, a critique of yellow journalism in postwar Japan, isn’t quite as searing as its director intended, yet it still has much to offer through its plethora of intriguing characters — most notably a weak-willed lawyer played by that wonderful actor Takashi Shimura.
Apr 2, 2014 · Learn about the life and work of Akira Kurosawa, one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century. Explore his influential films, such as Rashomon, Seven Samurai and Ran, and his impact on Western cinema.
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Feb 15, 2024 · Letterboxd users rate and rank the films of the legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, who made 32 feature movies in his career. See the list of his highest-rated works, from Dodes'ka-den to Rashomon, and learn more about his style and legacy.
