Talk:Akira Kurosawa

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[edit] Chusingun

Why is there no mention of Chusingun, which was also influential to George Lucas? It bothers me that no one has taken the time to pay homage to this director by even posting a non-objective review. Then again, I should probably get to the library and check out the movie myself.

[edit] RE: mistake

The Author of this article credits Stray Dog as Kurosawa's first collaboration with Toshiro Mifune, when it is in fact Kurosawa's breakthrough film, Drunken Angel which first starred the then unknown Mifune in a Kurosawa film. Drunken Angel was released in April of 1948 while Stray Dog was released in October of 1949. By this point Kurosawa had already collaborated with mifune a second time in The Quiet Duel. I believe it is important to recognize the significance of Drunken Angel, It is a spectacular film that is tremendously important to Japanese cinema and it is also responsible for launching Mifune's career as a actor and also introducing Kurosawa as a truly talented and skilled director. Donald Ritchie notes the importance of this film in his book, The Films of Akira Kurosawa. "Japanese critics have agreed that this picture is to Japanese cinema as Paisa or Bicycle Thieves is to Italian, that it perfectly epitomizes a period, its hopes, its fears: that it marks the major 'breakthrough' of a major directorial talent who has finally 'realized' himself."(Ritchie, 47) I will try to formalize this correction within the actual article, but am new to Wikipedia, so if anyone reads this and notices that the error was left uncorrected than please assume I was unable to do so and please correct it if you are able.

  • Any quoted material is taken from The Films of Akira Kurosawa by Donald Ritchie.

[edit] Original versus English Titles

I realise that this is the English page but I humbly believe that the original movie titles should be used. There should still be redirects from the international titles. Microsnot 01:48, 14 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Since this is the English edition, I think the English titles should be the main titles used (if only so that people can find the films in video stores), but I think you're right that if the original title is actually different (e.g. Throne of Blood was originally Cobweb Castle in Japanese) there should defenitely be a note about that somewhere, maybe in brackets after the English title. This should be fairly easy to do. The Singing Badger 12:11, 14 Sep 2004 (UTC)
Definately not trolling but from looking at imdb.com, I would like to know why Madadayo instead of Not yet, Yojimbo instead of The Bodyguard, Ikiru instead of To Live, etc. Surely the international titles should be used instead of whatever it's released as on video in North American. It just seems a little inconsistent. Microsnot 12:56, 14 Sep 2004 (UTC)
Yes, but Wikipedia, unlike the IMDB, is a multi-language encyclopedia. The IMDB has only one entry for a film, so they have to give each film its original title. But Wikipedia (in an ideal world at least) has different entries for each film in every language. If a user speaks Japanese and wants to know the original titles, they can just go to the Japanese Wikipedia article on Kurosawa. And if a user doesn't speak Japanese, the original titles are just pretty sounds and don't mean anything. That's my justification, anyway! The Singing Badger 20:58, 14 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Reply to: The Singing Badger 20:58, 14 Sep 2004 (UTC) Which is what I'm saying. Madadayo, Yojimbo, Ikiru and a couple of others are the "Japanese titles" rather than literally translated/international/subtitled titles. Microsnot 01:16, 16 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Isn't that the opposite of what I'm saying?! This could go round in circles... but if you want to change the titles, I won't revert it, but I do think the English titles should be made VERY clear, via redirects and so forth. This is supposed to be a site for English speakers. The Singing Badger 01:27, 16 Sep 2004 (UTC)

These issues are bigger than one director. They apply to all directors, authors etc. So, I suggest debating at Wikipedia:Manual of Style for Japan-related articles. Fg2 02:12, Sep 16, 2004 (UTC)

If you use whatever is the most common international title and the original english translation of the japanese title (in brackets if different) it would be most helpful. Often a title of a US release is different from the UK or other European release which is often the same as the original. I haven't noticed much variation in the UK from the Japanese titles of any Kurosawa release. DjDrAkiraGonzo 07:17, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

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[edit] info box

Does anyone feel that the quote in the infobox seems a bit oversized and out of place? Shawnc 04:57, 9 November 2005 (UTC)

I agree with you it is rather too long. --DannyWilde 05:24, 9 November 2005 (UTC)
It's not that it's long, but it should be reformatted. Palm_Dogg 20:43, 27 January 2006 (UTC)
I don't think we need an infobox at all Estrose 21:54, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Ran (film) (Nomination)

FYI Ran is up for FA status and the vote so far is 8-0 in favor. Palm_Dogg 18:36, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Kurosawa's brother

I am watching the PBS "Masterpiece Theater" entitled 'Kurosawa'. It mentions a brother, whose suicide may have influenced Kurosawa's career. Does anyone know more about this? Does anyone think that this deserves mention in the main article? Bill Jefferys 01:19, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

I think it does. Kurosawa's Something Like an Autobiography goes into some detail about his brother and their relationship. If you're watching the documentary made in ~2000, Paul Scofield reads various portions of this book. Z Wylld 20:37, 1 May 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Miller's Crossing?

Article states that Yojimbo was the basis for the Coen Brothers' Miller's Crossing. While there are some parallels between the two, I believe it's generally conceded that MC is primarily based on the works of Dashiell Hammett. I feel this reference ought to be either weakened or removed.

On a similar note if you look at the Yojimbo (film) article you'll see that it is not official that Yojimbo is based off of Red Harvest, the Red Harvest says about the same. Highlandlord 12:19, 1 August 2006 (UTC)
Yes, Miller's Crossing is based on the novels The Glass Key and Red Harvest by Hammett. 145.222.138.134 16:37, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cultural depictions of Akira Kurosawa

I've started an approach that may apply to Wikipedia's Core Biography articles: creating a branching list page based on in popular culture information. I started that last year while I raised Joan of Arc to featured article when I created Cultural depictions of Joan of Arc, which has become a featured list. Recently I also created Cultural depictions of Alexander the Great out of material that had been deleted from the biography article. Since cultural references sometimes get deleted without discussion, I'd like to suggest this as a model for the editors here. Regards, Durova 15:59, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] His Influence

"Remake" has a specific meaning, and to say that A Bug's Life or Three Amigos is a remake of Seven Samurai is just factually incorrect. "Inspired by" is also questionable; it implies that the one film was the impetus for the creation of another. "Influenced by" is pretty clearly a better choice of words. Also, "huge influence" is rather unprofessional language. I tried to fix this stuff, but it all got reverted. I hope somebody else will make an effort, as this section is a joke right now. 68.183.204.155 18:13, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

Here's a few reviews indicating some of the remakes and retellings, inlcuding A Bug's Life. It's common knowledge, really, owing to the fact that it can be sussed by watching the movies. And here's Wikipedia's own definition of remake, which gives the term some room for variations which would seem to include replacing people with bugs and some story variation. A compromise of "loosely remade as" might work. I'd also like to see some evidence that Kurosawa helped "create" the Western seeing as the genre is older than the advent of cinema.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/shows/kurosawa/multimedia/m_7samurai.html
http://otherstuff.laurelandhardycentral.com/7samarai.html
http://www.dvdjournal.com/reviews/s/sevensamurai_cc.shtml
http://www.jamesbowman.net/reviewDetail.asp?pubID=407
http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/bugslifece.php
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20010819/REVIEWS08/401010356/1023
Doctor Sunshine 21:27, 10 November 2006 (UTC)
You're right, Magnificent Seven launched the "Spagehetti Western" genre, I changed the article to reflect that. Bug's Life, etc. are not, by any reasonable definition, "remakes." However, you could mention that the influence of Seven Samurai is so wide as to show up in such diverse movies as Bug's Life, Three Amigos, etc., if you wanted to.
68.183.204.155 00:55, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
Unless he grew a beard and moved to Italy he didn't help create the Spaghetti Western. Inspired or, your word, influenced would be more appropriate. And even then, the placement of that statment implies that it was The Magnificent Seven and/or Seven Samurai that sparked it as opposed to Kurosawa's samurai films in general or Yojimbo which was remade almost shot for shot into A Fist Full of Dollars which is considered one of the first Spahgetti Westerns.
Regarding A Bug's Life, Three Amigos, Battle Beyond the Stars, etc., Wikipedia goes by consenus and I'm not really looking to research this extensively but just those first few links I googled list them as remakes, unofficial remakes, refashionings and reworkings, all which warrant more direct summation than "influenced". --Doctor Sunshine 02:24, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
Ok, change it so it's better. My bit on how it influenced Spaghetti Westerns isn't very good, I agree. And if you can find a major review that describes any of those movies as "remakes," I encourage you to list them as such.
68.183.204.155 19:40, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
Done deal. Really, this section could stand plenty of additions, the more eclectic the better, I say. --Doctor Sunshine 22:18, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
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