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Throne of Blood (1957, 111 Minutes) Kurosawa's intense and violent version of Shakespeare's Macbeth leans into the militaristic aspects of the play. Toshiro Mifune stars as Samurai commander Washizu who is told by an evil spirit in the forest, he will be king someday. When he confides in his wife Asaji (Isuzu Yamada) she persuades him to murder the Lord of the Castle. Throne of Blood is one of…
The Bad Sleep Well (1960, 151 Minutes) Moody, byzantine, and alienating are just a few adjectives to describe The Bad Sleep Well. Loosely inspired by Hamlet , in that it's a story about a son attempting to avenge the unjust death of his father, only it's' the version where Claudius wins. A plot summary would take several paragraphs, but if paying close attention, the plot is not over complicated.…
The Lower Depths (1957, 125 Minutes) Kurosawa's adaptation of the 1902 Maxim Gorky play The Lower Depths is a character study of people living in a downtrodden section of Tokyo during the 19th century. A work of social realism, the play was well received in Japan and France. The play's an ensemble piece with a range of characters making sense of their low station in life, while lamenting their…
Seven Samurai (1954, 207 Minutes) The mystique of Seven Samurai continues to expand each decade. Kurosawa pushed the possibilities of cinema, a film with as much depth and insight into humanity on the same level with any work of great literature. All epic films stand in its shadow. Why is Seven Samurai a great film, maybe one of those films that should be launched into the stars as a future…
Yojimbo (1961, 110 Minutes) Toshiro Mifune stars as a wandering samurai who gets caught up in a local power struggle in Yojimbo . With a masterful soundtrack by Masuru Sato and Kurosawa leaning into a pulpier style, it set the template for 60s cinema that would influence all action movies to come after. The template for the story, a hired gun comes into town and plays both sides can be traced to…
Rashomon (1950, 88 Minutes) In the post-truth world of the 21st century, Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon offers some guidance. The film announced Kurosawa as a major new voice in global cinema with its stunning cinematography and experimental approach to narrative. Based on short stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, the story provides four varying accounts of a sexual assault and subsequent murder. The film…
Drunken Angel (1948, 98 Minutes) The fragile relationship between a doctor and patient shapes the tragic realism of Drunken Angel . An early entry in Akira Kurosawa's canon, the film starred Takashi Shimura (Sato) and Toshiro Mifune (Matsunaga). Set in a swampy area of Tokyo shortly after the war, the insular setting to the film reinforces its themes of existential angst and entrapment. Mifune's a…
Now that we're in the summer when You Tubers conquered cinema, I made a trip to the theater to see Backrooms . Directed by 20-year-old Kane Parsons, the film stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve. The story, based on a series of YouTube videos created by Parsons, explores the surreal realm of liminal space. Visually the film is often exciting, and the script by Parsons and his co-writer Will…
Spielberg's greatest hits? Disclosure Day aims for the wonder of Close Encounters and the warmth of E.T. but also leans into the darker Sci-Fi of A.I . and Minority Report . The film weaves between chase sequences to quiet moments of fragile emotion. The film's central premise is an intriguing one: What happens on the day we learn extraterrestrial life exists? After 80 years of endless UFO…
Ryan Coogler's Sinners is a consistently entertaining mash-up of genres with sharp commentary on race and American history. The ambitious script ventures into musical, fantasy, historical drama, and horror. The film pays homages to its influences, but also a singular work alongside other American epics. Sinners is inn conversation with films like O Brother Where Art Thou? and Django Unchained . As…
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