Akira Kurosawa
Directing
🎂 1910-03-23
Akira Kurosawa (黒澤 明) was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. He displayed a bold, dynamic style, strongly influenced by Western cinema yet distinct from it; he was involved with all aspects of film production. Kurosawa entered the Japanese film industry in 1936, following a brief stint as a painter. After years of working on numerous films as an assistant director and scriptwriter, he made his debut as a director during World War II with the popular action film Sanshiro Sugata (1943). After the war, the critically acclaimed Drunken Angel (1948), in which Kurosawa cast the then little-known actor Toshiro Mifune in a starring role, cemented the director's reputation as one of the most important young filmmakers in Japan. The two men would go on to collaborate on another fifteen films. Rashomon (1950), which premiered in Tokyo, became the surprise winner of the Golden Lion at the 1951 Venice Film Festival. The commercial and critical success of that film opened up Western film markets for the first time to the products of the Japanese film industry, which in turn led to international recognition for other Japanese filmmakers. Kurosawa directed approximately one film per year throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, including a number of highly regarded (and often adapted) films, such as Ikiru (1952), Seven Samurai (1954), Throne of Blood (1957), Yojimbo (1961) and High and Low (1963). After the 1960s he became much less prolific; even so, his later work—including two of his final films, Kagemusha (1980) and Ran (1985)—continued to receive great acclaim. In 1990, he accepted the Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement. Posthumously, he was named Asian of the Century in the Arts, Literature, and Culture category by AsianWeek magazine and CNN, cited there as being among the five people who most prominently contributed to the improvement of Asia in the 20th century. His career has been honored by many retrospectives, critical studies and biographies in both print and video, and by releases in many consumer media.
Cast credits(30)
Self
1974
Self (archive footage)
2014
Self
2002
Self
2002
Self
2002
Self
2002
Self
2002
Self
2002
Self
2002
Self
2002
Self
2002
Self
1993
Self
2002
Self
2002
Self
2000
Self
2002
Self (archive footage)
2020
Self
2002
Self (archive footage)
2020
Self
2002
Self (archive footage)
2002
Self
2022
Self
1985
Self
2013
Self
2000
Self
1990
Self
1993
Self
2012
Self
1985
Writing (87)
Original Concept
2004
Original Film Writer
2016
Screenplay
1954
Screenplay
1950
Original Story
1964
Original Film Writer
1960
Screenplay
1963
Screenplay
1951
Screenplay
1961
Screenplay
1985
Writer
1949
Screenplay
1952
Screenplay
1965
Screenplay
1957
Screenplay
1990
Screenplay
1958
Writer
1948
Original Film Writer
1985
Story
1985
Writer
1952
Screenplay
1952
Screenplay
1950
Screenplay
1943
Screenplay
1962
Original Concept
1969
Screenplay
1975
Writer
1949
Writer
1960
Screenplay
1980
Original Film Writer
2022
Writer
1946
Screenplay
1993
Original Concept
1972
Original Film Writer
2025
Screenplay
1945
Original Film Writer
1996
Original Concept
1966
Screenplay
1970
Screenplay
1947
Original Concept
1970
Screenplay
1957
Screenplay
1991
Story
1955
Writer
1944
Screenplay
2002
Original Story
1980
Writer
2000
Original Story
2008
Original Story
2011
Screenplay
1947
Original Story
1964
Screenplay
2000
Writer
2007
Writer
1965
Screenplay
1951
Writer
1943
Screenplay
1957
Screenplay
1952
Original Story
1973
Writer
1952
Screenplay
1953
Writer
1942
Writer
1949
Original Film Writer
2007
Original Film Writer
2001
Screenplay
1955
Screenplay
1950
Writer
1949
Screenplay
1947
Screenplay
1962
Writer
1944
Screenplay
1951
Writer
1941
Story
1942
Writer
1970
Screenplay
1955
Screenplay
2007
Screenplay
1945
Original Story
2005
Screenplay
1964
Writer
1959
Screenplay
1948
Original Film Writer
1960
Original Film Writer
1968
Original Film Writer
Screenplay
1950
Adaptation
1950
Directing (56)
Director
1954
Director
1950
Director
1963
Director
1951
Director
1961
Director
1985
Director
1949
Director
1952
Director
1965
Director
1957
Director
1990
Director
1958
Director
1948
Director
1952
Director
1950
Director
1943
Director
1962
Director
1975
Director
1949
Director
1960
Director
1980
Director
1946
Director
1993
Director
1945
Director
1970
Director
1947
Director
1957
Director
1991
Director
1955
Director
1944
Director
1946
Third Assistant Director
1937
Assistant Director
1937
Third Assistant Director
1937
Assistant Director
1940
Third Assistant Director
1936
Third Assistant Director
1937
Assistant Director
1941
Assistant Director
1938
Third Assistant Director
1937
Assistant Director
1938
Assistant Director
1940
Third Assistant Director
1937
Assistant Director
1938
Director
1970
Third Assistant Director
1936
Third Assistant Director
1936
Assistant Director
1936
Assistant Director
1939
Third Assistant Director
1937
Third Assistant Director
1937
Assistant Director
1937
Assistant Director
1939
Third Assistant Director
1937
Assistant Director
1940
Assistant Director
1938
