Archive
IKIRU – Fumio Hayasaka
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Screenwriter Hideo Oguni was approached by director Akira Kurosawa for his next project, which was to be inspired by Leo Tolstoy’s acclaimed novella “The Death of Ivan Ilyich,” about a man diagnosed with terminal disease who seeks solace for the short time he has left to live. This resulting film, Ikiru, inaugurated a renowned collaboration between screenwriter Oguni and Kurosawa, which would go on to encompass many of the finest films in Japanese cinema, including Seven Samurai (1954), Throne of Blood (1957), The Hidden Fortress (1958), Sanjuro (1962), High and Low (1963), Dodes’ka-den (1970), and Ran (1985). Toho Company agreed to finance the project and assigned production to Sōjirō Motoki. Kurosawa would direct, and the final screenplay was credited to Oguni, Kurosawa, and Shinobu Hashimoto. A fine cast was assembled, which included Takashi Shimura as Kanji Watanabe, Shinichi Himori as Kimura, and Haruo Tanaka as Sakai. Read more…
RASHOMON – Fumio Hayasaka
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Renowned director Akira Kurosawa found inspiration for his next film from two short stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa – In a Bamboo Grove (1922) and Rashomon (1915). He decided to blend the two narratives and collaborated with Shinobu Hashimoto to adapt a screenplay. Financial backing was secured from the Daiei Film company, Minoru Jingo was assigned production with a very small budget of $250,000, and Kurosawa took the reins to direct. For his cast, Kurosawa brought in Takashi Shimura as Kikori the woodcutter, Minoru Chiaki as Tabi Hõshi the priest, Masayuki Mori as Takehiro the samurai, Machiko Kyõ as the samurai’s wife Masako, and Toshiro Mifune as Tajomaru the bandit. Read more…
THE SEVEN SAMURAI [SHICHININ NO SAMURAI] – Fumio Hayasaka
100 GREATEST SCORES OF ALL TIME
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Groundbreaking Japanese director Akira Kurosawa was researching samurai lore for a planned film that would focus on a single day in a samurai’s life. He abandoned this idea when Toho Studio producer Sōjirō Motoki presented him with a tale, which intrigued him – aggrieved farmers hiring samurais to protect their village from bandits. He crafted a script with the assistance of Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni, and secured Motoki’s blessings to proceed. This would mark Kurosawa’s first foray into a samurai film and he recruited a fine cast to realize his vision. He meticulously researched historical samurai to create identities for each of the seven. For his seven samurai he brought in Takashi Shimura as Kanbei Shimada, a war-weary ronin who leads the group; Yoshio Inaba as Gorōbei Katayama, a master archer and second in command; Daisuke Katō as Shichirōji, Shimada’s former lieutenant; Sejii Miyaguchi as Kyūzō, a skilled swordsman; Minoru Chiaki as the amiable Heihachi Hayashida; Isao Kimura as Katsushiro Okamoto, a young and untested warrior; and lastly Toshiro Mifune as the comic Kikuchiyo, a commoner pretending to be a samurai who eventually earns the right to be called one. Read more…
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