Akira Kurosawa is arguably probably the most acclaimed and well known Japanese filmmaker in cinema historical past. He acquired a single nomination for Greatest Director and an Honorary Oscar from the Academy Awards, although unusually, nothing he made ever gained Greatest Image. He is been admired and acknowledged for his glorious filmography in different methods not less than, together with by the customers of the film-related social media app, Letterboxd.
His films are inclined to have very excessive common scores from the positioning’s customers, with 14 of his 32 characteristic movies having a score of 4/5 or larger. The next at the moment sit as his highest-rated on Letterboxd, and serve to symbolize the excessive factors in a profession that was full of groundbreaking, thrilling, and diverse movies.
Up to date July 21, 2023, by Jeremy Urquhart:
The most effective Kurosawa movies proceed to really feel timeless, and there isn’t any indication that they’ll change into dated anytime quickly. The perfect Akira Kurosawa films are additionally, funnily sufficient, among the best films of all time, broadly talking. He was a grasp filmmaker, and anybody who needs to study extra about cinema – particularly movies from Japan – ought to look at as many nice Akira Kurosawa films as they’ll.
15 ‘Stray Canine’ (1949)
Letterboxd Ranking: 3.9/5
Stray Canine is usually considered probably the most movie noir kind of film that Akira Kurosawa ever made, and that is a good evaluation. It is one of many director’s greatest crime films (and positively not his just one), and follows a younger detective’s determined makes an attempt to retrieve a stolen pistol, with every step of his journey taking him into progressively darker waters.
It milks quite a lot of suspense and intrigue from its easy premise, and naturally will get extra advanced and concerned because it goes alongside. It additionally does a remarkably good job at capturing a tense, heated ambiance, with the sweltering climate its characters expertise being proven viscerally on display.
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14 ‘The Unhealthy Sleep Properly’ (1960)
Letterboxd Ranking: 4.0/5
Simply over a decade after Stray Canine, Akira Kurosawa returned to the crime style with The Unhealthy Sleep Properly, which is a really unfastened reimagining/fashionable replace of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It is about an formidable employee looking for revenge for his father’s demise, all completed by inching his method nearer to his boss, who he believes is culpable for the demise.
It unfolds in fairly a methodical and deliberately-paced vogue, however the exact filmmaking from Kurosawa and performances from its big solid preserve it compelling. It additionally helps that it largely borrows the essential premise and themes from Hamlet with out straight retelling the story, that means it stays gripping, even for many who know the ins and out of the unique textual content.
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13 ‘Sanjuro’ (1962)
Letterboxd Ranking: 4.1/5
A sequel to a 1961 film (extra on that later) that is not fairly as a lot of a traditional – however remains to be excellent – is Sanjuro. The titular character is a ronin, and on this movie, he finds himself allied with a bunch of warriors who wish to remove the villainous people inside their clan.
It is a surprisingly humorous film at instances, regardless that it offers with critical themes, deconstructing the samurai mythos whereas additionally having a strong quantity of gritty sword-fighting motion. It is one other profitable samurai film from Kurosawa, who was among the best in all Japanese cinema when it got here to tackling films inside this style.
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12 ‘The Hidden Fortress’ (1958)
Letterboxd Ranking: 4.1/5
The Hidden Fortress is a film that is mentioned to have had fairly an affect on American filmmaker/producer George Lucas. It is a samurai/journey film that served as one of many influences on Star Wars, with its epic plot being about two peasants unknowingly stumbling right into a large-scale battle after they meet a warrior and princess in hiding.
By no means did Lucas plagiarize the movie, as there are too many variations, however elements of the narrative and among the characters are definitely comparable to those who audiences later noticed in a galaxy far, far-off. And when considered by itself, The Hidden Fortress can also be only a compelling and entertaining motion/journey film, and stands as one of the vital accessible of all Akira Kurosawa films.
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11 ‘Desires’ (1990)
Letterboxd Ranking: 4.1/5
Desires ended up being one in all Akira Kurosawa’s closing movies, and it stands out from a lot of his different movies, which tended to be historic dramas, up to date crime movies, or samurai films. As a substitute, Desires is an anthology movie, with every sequence being primarily based on varied desires that the famed director had all through his life.
As you may count on, a few of these are light-hearted, some are fantastical, and others are fairly unsettling. It is a film full of distinctive imagery and a genuinely dreamy ambiance, and offers an fascinating look into the thoughts of one of many twentieth century’s best filmmakers. As such, it definitely earns its Letterboxd score.
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10 ‘Kagemusha’ (1980)
Letterboxd Ranking: 4.1/5
Among the finest films of 1980, Kagemusha is a real epic, and one of many boldest Kurosawa films from a visible perspective. It additionally tells an intriguing story, following a thief who’s enlisted to be a double for a fearsome warlord, given the 2 look nearly similar.
When the warlord abruptly dies, the thief is required to take his place, guaranteeing that those that serve the now-dead warlord will not lose morale. It runs for about three hours, and makes use of that point and house to have some impressively large-scale battle sequences which can be complemented by a equally big colour scheme, in addition to efficient theatrical performances from its solid.
9 ‘Rashomon’ (1950)
Letterboxd Ranking: 4.2/5
Probably the most placing factor about Rashomonis its radical construction, the place the identical horrific crime is proven 4 completely different instances, from 4 completely different views. It is a movie that sheds gentle on the best way that human reminiscence can distort the target actuality of what occurs, and what meaning for the pursuit of justice, when eyewitnesses are sometimes seen as key for fixing crimes.
It may not be on the very high of Kurosawa’s filmography in the case of its common score, but it surely was arguably the film that made Kurosawa (and even Japanese cinema as an entire) deliberately acknowledged. It nonetheless stands as an interesting and tense viewing expertise, and the concepts it raises nonetheless show related to programs of justice immediately.
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8 ‘Dersu Uzala’ (1975)
Letterboxd Ranking: 4.2/5
A co-production between Japan and the USSR, Dersu Uzala has the distinctive distinction of being the one Kurosawa movie with Russian dialogue. It takes place in unmapped Russian forests, and follows the bond that develops between two folks: one who’s made the wilderness his residence, and the opposite who finds it alienating and in contrast to the life he is used to residing.
Given it feels just like the odd one out when Kurosawa’s filmography, Dersu Uzala definitely is not one in all his most well-known, but it surely retains a excessive score from those that have given it an opportunity. It was additionally an essential movie for Kurosawa’s profession, as he’d suffered some setbacks all through the beginning of the Seventies, with Dersu Uzala’s constructive reception re-energizing his artistic spirit going ahead.
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7 ‘Throne of Blood’ (1957)
Letterboxd Ranking: 4.2/5
Throne of Blood is not the one time Akira Kurosawa would adapt a play by Shakespeare, but it surely’s not solely one in all his greatest movies – it is arguably among the best movie diversifications of a Shakespearean play. Right here, he tackles the tragedy of Macbeth and places his personal spin on it by setting the motion in feudal Japan.
The result’s a extremely participating movie, because it retains sufficient of the unique play to hold its strengths whereas additionally making sufficient small adjustments to really feel thrilling for these conversant in Macbeth. It is rightly seen as one in all Kurosawa’s greatest movies on Letterboxd, and in addition options among the best performances of Toshiro Mifune’s profession (a legendary actor who regularly collaborated with Kurosawa).
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6 ‘Yojimbo’ (1961)
Letterboxd Ranking: 4.2/5
Popularizing a premise that will later be reused by movies like A Fistful of {Dollars} and Final Man Standing, Yojimbo is a extremely entertaining and tense samurai drama. A lone, unnamed samurai involves a city, solely to search out it is fallen into disarray due to a violent gang conflict. He seizes the chance to benefit from either side for his personal profit and collaborates with both facet to set them towards one another.
Watching a crafty protagonist benefit from two units of clueless criminals makes for a enjoyable film, and although Yojimbo is gentle on motion, it is heavy on suspense. It additionally helps that when the unnamed protagonist is required to indicate off his combating prowess, the motion finally ends up being satisfying regardless of its brevity.
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5 ‘Purple Beard’ (1965)
Letterboxd Ranking: 4.2/5
Purple Beard is one in all Kurosawa’s longest films, clocking in at 185 minutes. It is also notable for being the final time Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune would work collectively on a movie, as their falling out after Purple Beard’s launch put an finish to their collaboration, which had lasted for a powerful 16 movies.
It is stunning to see Purple Beard ranked as excessive as it’s, and it is also value noting that it would not have a excessive variety of viewers, with about 23,000 Letterboxd customers logging it (as compared, Yojimbo has almost 100,000 extra views). Nonetheless, it is clearly a movie that is resonated with the neighborhood, and it is simple that this epic-length film a few grouchy but compassionate physician coaching a brand new apprentice is a robust movie.
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4 ‘Ran’ (1985)
Letterboxd Ranking: 4.4/5
Whereas Throne of Blood noticed Akira Kurosawa adapting Macbeth and The Unhealthy Sleep Properly (1960) noticed him loosely adapting Hamlet, with 1985’s Ran, the good director set his sights on Shakespeare’s play King Lear. It takes the story of an getting older king making an attempt to divide his kingdom up amongst his three sons and locations it in Sixteenth-century Japan to dazzling impact.
Visually, it’d properly be Kurosawa’s best-looking film, owing to its grand scope and memorable use of colour all through. It is a lengthy movie with some sluggish scenes, but it is capable of maintain curiosity extremely properly, and finally ends up being a exceptional achievement that Kurosawa deservedly acquired a Greatest Director nomination on the Oscars for.
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3 ‘Ikiru’ (1952)
Letterboxd Ranking: 4.4/5
Ikiru is probably going Akira Kurosawa’s most bittersweet and transferring movie. It has a easy story that delivers a wide selection of feelings, centering on a bureaucrat whose perspective on life is dramatically modified when his physician tells him he is terminally ailing and will not have lengthy to stay.
So begins a redemptive story, with the primary character getting down to do as a lot good as he can in his closing days, which incorporates serving to to construct a playground in an impoverished neighborhood. It is arduous to think about somebody watching Ikiru and never feeling not less than a bit bit moved, which might assist clarify its excessive score.
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2 ‘Excessive and Low’ (1963)
Letterboxd Ranking: 4.5/5
Few thrillers which can be as outdated as Excessive and Low maintain up and stay thrilling the identical method Excessive and Low does. It is a crime/thriller a few rich govt being extorted for cash after one in all his employee’s sons is kidnapped and held for ransom, with the movie largely centering on the detectives who’re enlisted to trace down the kidnapper.
It is a pretty prolonged movie at 142 minutes lengthy, however is paced and plotted extraordinarily properly, guaranteeing that it would not really feel its size. It is also bought an incredible solid full of quite a few actors Kurosawa labored with on multiple event (together with Toshiro Mifune), and the best way its easy premise expands out and turns into extra tense and sophisticated because the movie progresses makes it riveting to look at.
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1 ‘Seven Samurai’ (1954)
Letterboxd Ranking: 4.5/5
A revolutionary motion epic that is aged like wine within the almost 70 years since its launch, Seven Samurai is an simple traditional. Its premise has been recycled and parodied quite a few instances for good motive: it is merely an undeniably satisfying and thrilling story.
The inhabitants of a small village change into bored with fixed bandit assaults, and got down to discover samurai who will assist them defend themselves. It makes use of its 3.5-hour runtime to develop characters and construct suspense, making the climactic battle scenes all of the extra thrilling within the course of. It is not arduous to know why Seven Samurai sits at a 4.5/5 score on Letterboxd, and throughout the high 10 of the positioning’s high 250 films of all time.
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