Akira Kurosawa

• A Japanese filmmaker, born in Tokyo in 1910 and died in the same city in 1998. 

  A descendant of samurai, Akira Kurosawa embarked on the rigorous “way of the cinema”, as others follow the “way of the sword”, tirelessly shooting over thirty films, from 1941 to 1993, which shed light on his country’s long history. Known as sensei (master) on set, Kurosawa drew on all the techniques of his art, from script to editing, and in return asked for complete commitment from his collaborators, such as Toshirō Mifune, his favourite actor. First at the Japanese studios, then the Soviet ones (Dersu Uzala, 1975), then in Hollywood (Dreams, 1990), he filmed “spectacular arthouse” films, by turns epic and minimalist. Combining East and West, from Noh theatre to Shakespeare (Throne of Blood, Ran), his powerfully Japanese work became universal. It was with Rashōmon (1950), which took top honours in Venice and at the Oscars, that the international recognition of Japanese cinema was inaugurated.

• Sanshiro Sugata (1943) - The Most Beautiful (1944) - Sanshiro Sugata (1945) - The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945) - Those Who Make Tomorrow (1946) - No Regrets for Our Youth (1946) - One Wonderful Sunday (1947) - Drunken Angel (1948) - The Quiet Duel (1949) - Stray Dog (1949) - Scandal (1950) - Rashōmon (1950) - The Idiot (1951) - To Live (1952) - Seven Samurai (1954) - I Live In Fear (1955) - Throne of Blood (1957) - The Lower Depths (1957) - The Hidden Fortress (1958) - The Bad Sleep Well (1960) - Yojimbo (1961) - Sanjuro (1962) - High and Low (1963) - Red Beard (1965) - Dodes'ka-den (1970) - Dersu Uzala (1975) - Kagemusha, Shadow Warrior (1980) - Ran (1985) - Dreams (1990) - Rhapsody in August (1991) - Madadayo (1993)