Filmmaker Akira Kurosawa began his career as an assistant director
in the years leading up to World War II.
In 1950, he gained international acclaim for the samurai tale
Rashomon, which he followed with such
influential films as The Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood and Yojimbo.
After a difficult period during which
he failed to find backing for his projects and also attempted
suicide, his influence on a younger generation
of directors led to the resurrection of his career with the films
Kagemusha and Ran. Kurosawa died in 1998,
leaving behind an impressive body of work that has earned him a
place as one of the greatest filmmakers of
the 20th century.
Why you should know about akira kurosawa?
Akira Kurosawa, considered Japan's greatest filmmaker and one of the
world's greatest, is not a household name to Americans. But
directing 30 films over 57 years before his death Sept. 6, 1998, his
career belongs in the film pantheon. The director Francis Ford
Coppola once noted that Kurosawa "didn't just make a masterpiece or
two masterpieces, he made eight masterpieces."
He also was tremendously influential on American movies, his samurai
genre movies especially providing inspiration for Westerns and
sci-fi epics we all know and love. If you'd like a way into
Kurosawa's body of work, check out these famous American movies that
were inspired by Kurosawa masterpieces. His work maybe more familiar
than you think.
If you like Star Wars, watch Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress.
you like The Magnificent Seven, watch Kurosawa's The
Seven Samurai.
If you like A Fistful of Dollars, watch Kurosawa's
Yojimbo.