Director: Akira Kurosawa Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Awaji, Eiko Miyoshi, Noriko Honma, Isao Kimura, Minoru Chiaki, Ichiro Sugai, Gen Shimizu, Noriko Sengoku Running Time: 122 min. By Matthew Le-feuvre At a time when social or political ambivalence wasn’t an option to explore or express through art – or by any other visual medium – acclaimed Japanese filmmaker, Akira Kurosawa, then under contract with the Toho film studios, was … Continue reading →

AKA: 7 Samurai Director: Akira Kurosawa Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Daisuke Kato, Isao Kimura, Minoru Chiaki, Seiji Miyaguchi, Yoshio Inaba, Kamatari Fujiwara, Bokuzen Hidari Running Time: 207 min. By Numskull Akira Kurosawa is what I refer to as a “sacred cow” director (others include Ingmar Bergman and Wong Kar Wai). To suggest that any of his films is anything less than perfect in every way is to be labeled … Continue reading →

Director: Akira Kurosawa Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Isuza Yamada, Takashi Shimura, Akira Kubo, Hiroshi Tachikawa, Minoru Chiaki, Takamaru Sasaki, Kokuten KodoUeda Kichijiro Running Time: 109 min. By Mairosu Guess what dear readers if there are any, it’s a fortification doubleheader! First, I saw Hidden Fortress today, the film which allegedly inspired George Lucas to make Star Wars (turns out it just inspired some moments of Star Wars rather than the whole … Continue reading →

Director: Akira Kurosawa Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Minoru Chiaki, Kamatari Fujiwara, Misa Uehara, Susumu Fujita, Takashi Shimura, Misa Uehara, Eiko Miyoshi, Toshiko Higuchi Running Time: 139 min. By Numskull The titular location isn’t much of a “fortress”… more like a couple of shacks tucked away in a canyon… but the adventure that stops there along the way is highly entertaining. This Akira Kurosawa film takes its time getting where it’s going … Continue reading →