I was surprised how good this unit was. I used to not like movies with subtitles at all, but I finally don't mind them. I think Akira Kurosawa was an interesting person. It seems to me that the imperial Japanese government held Kurosawa back from making the movies he really wanted to make. I saw in his post war period his movies strongly contrasted the views and themes of his wartime period. It seemed like two different directors. I thought Stray Dog was an example of a Kurosawa movie that didn't represent the movie maker he was. The storyline was pretty weak. A detective trying to find his gun isn't that interesting to me. I can say that one reason why Kurosawa is a great director is the way he can make a boring movie interesting. If you gave that storyline to any ordinary director it would've turned out bad. I believe Kurosawa has a way with his audience to keep them interested just like Hitchcock does.
Yojimbo was a great movie. I never knew For a Few Dollars More was a remake of Yojimbo. The first time someone brought up Sergio Leonne in class while we were watching Yojimbo it clicked in my head how similar the two movies are. In every sentence there's only a couple words different because of the difference in genre's, setting, and character's. I think Sergio Leonne and Kurosawa are similar in the type of genres they're interested in. Kurosawa made a lot of, what I like to call revisionist samuri movies and Sergio Leonne made a lot of revisonist westerns. I think they both liked making statements on humanity and wanted to make their movies realistic. Not some picture perfect movie with a happy ending.
Ran was one of Kurosawa's best movies he directed. He got many themes and messages out with this film. Personally, I believe Kurosawa was a defender of peace. He knew there will always be war, but the wars will never be justified. Thus, he believes humanity is screwed. I don't neccesarily believe in this, but I do believe soldiers will have to die because politicians don't know how to deal with international issues. All in all, I discovered many things about Akira Kurosawa in this unit, and have come to realize why he's one of the greatest directors ever.
Yojimbo was a great movie. I never knew For a Few Dollars More was a remake of Yojimbo. The first time someone brought up Sergio Leonne in class while we were watching Yojimbo it clicked in my head how similar the two movies are. In every sentence there's only a couple words different because of the difference in genre's, setting, and character's. I think Sergio Leonne and Kurosawa are similar in the type of genres they're interested in. Kurosawa made a lot of, what I like to call revisionist samuri movies and Sergio Leonne made a lot of revisonist westerns. I think they both liked making statements on humanity and wanted to make their movies realistic. Not some picture perfect movie with a happy ending.
Ran was one of Kurosawa's best movies he directed. He got many themes and messages out with this film. Personally, I believe Kurosawa was a defender of peace. He knew there will always be war, but the wars will never be justified. Thus, he believes humanity is screwed. I don't neccesarily believe in this, but I do believe soldiers will have to die because politicians don't know how to deal with international issues. All in all, I discovered many things about Akira Kurosawa in this unit, and have come to realize why he's one of the greatest directors ever. 
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