INTRODUCTION
The
name Akira Kurosawa immediately invokes cinema. If the name is not familiar,
his work often is. Chances are everyone has at least heard of one of his film
titles, including: Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Ikiru, The Bad Sleep Well,
Rashomon and High and Low, not only because these films are all
masterpieces, but many of them have been remade
into a variety of properties. Additionally, he was the first to use certain
filmmaking techniques and storytelling choices that have all become standard.
There is no modern or post-modern film without the work of Akira Kurosawa. For
that reason, Kurosawa, and his work, will be the next subject for this blog’s
sociological analysis and review. However, given that Kurosawa made 30 films
over his near 60-year career (which would take me two and a half years to
complete at my current pace) it would take too long to complete. Instead, over
the coming months I will be doing a deep dive into Kurosawa’s Jidaigeki
Chambara films.
Jidaigeki and Chambara films
Jidaigeki loosely translates into
English as “period piece”, what we might think of in western cinema as a
“costume drama”. The Japanese conceive of a period in their history far earlier
than the Victorian era often depicted in western “costume dramas”. In Japan, Jidaigekis
usually take place during the Edo period of Japan that spans 1603-1868, as well
as the Meiji period between 1868-1912. Chambara translated to mean “Sword
Fight” is a sub-genre of the Jidaigeki films that focuses on the Samurai class
and usually takes place in the Tokugawa period of 1600-1868; when the Samurai
class was fading due to western influences. A lot of Samurai films center on
the “Ronin” or masterless Samurai, who have been jobless and homeless since
their retainer and lord (called a Daimyo) lost his land and status due to the
socio-political changes in Japan. These “Roaming Ronins”, who still retained
the status of Samurai, would farm out their martial skills to survive.
Chambara
films gained prominence in a post-World War II era. Allowing Japanese directors
to reinforce the “spirit” of the Samurai into the culture, and as if modeling after
reality, would often feature psychologically and physically scarred warriors
(usually from previous battles or wars) as
their protagonists. Many of the post war Chambara films were darker in tone and
significantly more violent. Given this particular effect/purpose, most of the
Chambara films produced were between 1950-1980. While there are some outliers, few
Chambara films are made today. Instead, “The
Samurai Spirit” is imbued in modern genre pictures
(Sci-fi, Fantasy, Crime Noir) and motivates the actors that have a lineage in
the Samurai class.
BRIEF HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Kurosawa got his
directing career off the ground with a job as an assistant director for PCL (Photo
Chemical Laboratories) a company that would later become Toho Pictures in 1936.
To get the job, he had submitted an essay in which applicants were asked to
identify the fundamental deficiencies in Japanese film. To which Kurosawa
answered that the flaws were fundamental, and that there was no way to fix
them. This intrigued examiner and director Kajiro Yamamoto who became a mentor
to the young Kurosawa. Yamamoto pushed Kurosawa to write for the screen. It was
his belief that a good director was also a screenwriter; something that
Kurosawa would do for the rest of his life.
Kurosawa’s directing
career and trajectory was greatly hindered by Japan’s involvement in World War
II. The censorship board rejected his first major studio film, Sanshiro
Sugata. They considered the work to be too “western” (A criticism that
would be consistent throughout Kurosawa’s career). The film was permanently
stalled until famed director Yasujiro Ozu, threw his artistic reputation and clout
behind the film. The meteoric success of
Sugata, and the structure of the studio system contract, forced Kurosawa
to make an unintended sequel which is regarded as the worst film in his
career. While several of his films
became successful during this period, Kurosawa did not “become Kurosawa” until
well into the post war period of Japan, when he first began his collaboration
with the Cinematic force of nature Tashiro Mifune and the steady and consistent
power of Takashi Shimura.
The collaboration between
Takashi Shimura, Akira Kurosawa and Tashiro Mifune is a cinematic Triumvirate
that is unparalleled. All three working together a total of 13 times over their
respective careers (and additionally with Kurosawa separately), Kurosawa’s work
and Chambara films in general, would not be what they are, without the work of these
two men. Shimura and Mifune star (or are featured) in 7 out of the 8 Kurosawa
Samurai films I will be covering in this series. One
essay, in discussing the two actor’s collaboration,
compared Shimura and Mifune, to DeNiro and Pacino in their approach, screen
presence and captivation. Additionally, both lent their talents to other films
in the genre. The image of Tashiro Mifune in Samurai garb, became the basis for how
a traditional Samurai should look in the medium.[1] There
is no modern Chambara films without these three men. Their commitment to the
craft of the genre can never be understated.
One of the many reasons
Akira Kurosawa became such a famed director, was for his western influences. It
was his thinking that Japanese cinema at the time was fundamentally flawed that
got him his first job. But over the course of his career, Kurosawa began to show
these western foundations. Directors like Fritz Lang and John Ford, to Writers
like Shakespeare and Dostoevsky, all became apparent influences in Kurosawa’s
work. Yet, because Kurosawa was coming into film when Japanese cinema was
waning, His style became the
foundation of a lot of Japanese Cinema moving forward.[2]
Kurosawa not only
revolutionized Japanese Cinema, but his name became synonymous with Japanese
Cinema in the west. Starting with Rashomon, most of his films had a wide
release and therefore a wide influence, especially in the United states during
the 1970’s. The directors coming out of
US film schools in the late 1960’s- 1970’s, “borrowed” heavily from Kurosawa,
Scorsese, Milius, Spielberg, Coppola and especially George Lucas, cite Kurosawa
as a major influence on their work[3]. This influence was so
strong that these directors worked together to not only get Kurosawa a lifetime
achievement Oscar, but they also helped to both produce and distribute some of
his later films including: Kagemusha, Dreams and Ran.
SEEDS OF SOCIAL ANALYSIS
Because Kurosawa’s Chambara films are
usually taking place at the tail end of the Edo Period, he is consistently
dealing with issues of class dynamics; often juxtaposing the status of the
Samurai class, with many of his characters being both penniless and homeless.
He may localize this by telling the story through the two lowest status
characters, as he does in The Hidden Fortress, or challenge the status
stereotypes between peasants and samurai in Seven Samurai, or the retention
of honor in the face of poverty in the Sanjiro duology. Kurosawa has a lot to say when it comes to
poverty, social class and how those things play out in a feudal society but
reflect the social issues of the time.
A lot of the other
thematic elements Kurosawa plays with are those found in western literature.
Specifically for this series, Kurosawa’s Shakespearian Chambara adaptations are
important. Thus, the thematic elements in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and King Lear,
are shown through a Japanese cultural prism with Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood
and Ran respectively.
Unlike Miyazaki,
the focus of the previous series, Kurosawa does not have a strong track
record when it comes to inclusive cinema. Many of his roles for women are under
written and stereotypically one dimensional. He does not discuss social issues
involving race, gender, or disability. As I will discuss, part of this is the
historical context in which he was living and the socio-political environment
in which he was working, and part of it was his own enculturated ideas about
gender.
CONCLUSION
Kurosawa
is a master filmmaker and one of the 5 greatest directors in history, that
without him, cinema would not be the same. His process, themes and
understanding of the power and importance of cinema, have allowed film to
continue after his death. All of Kurosawa’s work is spectacular, and everyone
should watch all 30 of his films at some point. But I am of the opinion that,
excluding Ikiru, which is devastatingly powerful on its own, his Samurai
films are my favorite, and the films that are most digestible to a western
audience, as
many of them mirror the actual genre of the Western itself.
Personally, I have always
been fascinated with Japanese culture, especially the Samurai class. Kurosawa’s
Chambara films are a big part of why and how that interest became so important
to my identity. To be able to break
Kurosawa’s work down including my favorite film of all time sociologically,
using sociological theories and ideas, is the quintessential reason I continue
to write these reviews. It is my hope, that through this series, I will add a
sociological dimension to the criticism of Kurosawa, and I get some readers
interested in going back and (Re) discovering the greatness that is, Akira
Kurosawa.
[1] I
still think it looks weird to see Mifune in modern garb. When I watch him in
The Bad Sleep well or even Stray Dog I am like, “This is odd.”
[2] Jump
cuts, tracking shots, the dissolve, the wipe, wide shots with long lenses, The
shooting of action, slow motion to depict speed, gathering of the team montage,
cutting on motion, The lone wolf protagonist
[3] Star
Wars: a New Hope is basically Hidden Fortress
