Akira Kurosawa had three periods, all of which offered masterpieces.
There was his early period, up to 1950’s Rashomon.
This includes the excellent Stray Dog.
CL
At the time Akira Kurosawa was refining his craft.
This king of the arthouse period runs from 1950 through until 1965’s Red Beard.
This was the last film the two would do together.
Everything after sputtered for a bit, perhaps having something to do with being fired off of Tora!
My Review after the jump.
When that warlord dies, the imposter moves into place, and must help keep everything in line.
He does so for some time, but then the secret is revealed, and chaos descends.
It’s hard not to be in awe of the movie.
It’s as if the director had already drifted off a bit to heaven.
Still, I have mixed feelings on this movie.
I have no mixed feelings about Criterion’s Blu-ray.
It is a must have.
The film is presented in widescreen (1.85:1) and in DTS 4.0 Japanese surround.
“Lucas Coppola and Kurosawa” (19 min.)
continues the series of interviews done for Japanese television on his career.
“Image: Kurosawa’s Continuity” (43 min.)
gives a tour of Kurosawa’s storyboards.
“A Vision Realized” does a storyboard to film comparison in a still gallery.
There’s five Suntory Whiskey commercials (4 min.)
shot on the set of the picture.
Then, to wrap up the set is the American trailer, and two Japanese trailers.
