Kurosawa documentary and an Audition note

Ted Mills mills at rain.org
Fri Mar 29 04:02:05 EST 2002


Hi there,

Did anybody else watch the repeat showing of the Kurosawa documentary on PBS
last night? It wasn't much of a thing--the usual hagiography with some
interesting interviews thrown in. I especially liked seeing Machiko Kyo and
the crew of Rashomon revisit the forest where they filmed it (the whole
"secluded glen" being something like 50 feat from a road!), and just the
fact that I finally saw what Ichikawa Kon and Donald Richie looked like.

I can't say that it told me anything about Kurosawa that a two paragraph
obit couldn't have said (and a read of his biography, which I have done).
The films all showed Kurosawa's interest in individual sacrifice, according
to the show, but not *much* more.

I was surprised that they skipped over some of my favorite films ("Stray
Dog" in particular) and rushed through the final years. And I still feel
queasy when I see George Lucas standing next to Kurosawa (despite his help
in getting the funding for Kagemusha). Kurosawa literally and metaphorically
towers over the man.

I guess I'm spoilt for documentaries on directors after seeing the masterful
job that Chris Marker did on Tarkovsky's work (and the strange film on
Kurosawa that he made). Now that's an essay in film.

On a side note, American Cinematheque and Image Entertainment announced an
American DVD release for Miike's Audition in April.



More information about the KineJapan mailing list