“High and Low” received nominations for the Golden Lion at the 24th Venice Film Festival, and the Best Foreign Film at the 21st Golden Globe Awards. It was also awarded at the Mainichi Film Awards for the Best Film, and for the Best Screenplay. Upon its release in Japan, it earned approximately $1.3 million and became the top-grossing film of 1963.
on Amazon by clicking on the image below
The script, written by Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Eijiro Hisaita, and Ryuzo Kikushima, is loosely based on Evan Hunter's novel from 1959, “King's Ransom”. Toho, the film company that Kurosawa was working with at the time, acquired the film rights for $5,000. The first half of the story revolves around Kingo Gondo (Toshiro Mifune), a board member of a Japanese shoe company, facing a critical dilemma. He must decide whether to use his considerable wealth to secure executive control in the company or help his chauffeur,...
on Amazon by clicking on the image below
The script, written by Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Eijiro Hisaita, and Ryuzo Kikushima, is loosely based on Evan Hunter's novel from 1959, “King's Ransom”. Toho, the film company that Kurosawa was working with at the time, acquired the film rights for $5,000. The first half of the story revolves around Kingo Gondo (Toshiro Mifune), a board member of a Japanese shoe company, facing a critical dilemma. He must decide whether to use his considerable wealth to secure executive control in the company or help his chauffeur,...
- 2/6/2024
- by Tobiasz Dunin
- AsianMoviePulse
What a great way to encounter such an unusual masterpiece — Akira Kurosawa reenergized his creative career with this ambitious, uncompromised historical epic, filmed for Mosfilm on location in the wilds of far-East Siberia. A local woodsman becomes a guide for a Russian survey team, and a great friendship is formed. It’s like nothing Kurosawa made before or since — an adventure that stresses nature-friendly philosophy over action. The good extras are topped by Stuart Galbraith IV’s expert commentary, which includes three additional specialists to cover this film and its director in full fascinating detail.
Dersu Uzala
Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 158
1975 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 142 min. / Street Date September 28, 2022 / Available from Imprint / aud 34.95
Starring: Yuriy Solomin, Maksim Munzuk, Mikhail Bychkov. Svetlana Danilchenko.
Cinematography: Asakazu Nakai, Fyodor Dobronravov, Yuriy Gantman
Production Designer: Yurily Raksha
Costume Design: Tatyana Lichmanova
Film Editor: Valentina Stepannova
Original Music: Isaac Schwarts
Written by Akira Kurosawa, Yuri Nagibin from the book Dersi okhotnikbyV.
Dersu Uzala
Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 158
1975 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 142 min. / Street Date September 28, 2022 / Available from Imprint / aud 34.95
Starring: Yuriy Solomin, Maksim Munzuk, Mikhail Bychkov. Svetlana Danilchenko.
Cinematography: Asakazu Nakai, Fyodor Dobronravov, Yuriy Gantman
Production Designer: Yurily Raksha
Costume Design: Tatyana Lichmanova
Film Editor: Valentina Stepannova
Original Music: Isaac Schwarts
Written by Akira Kurosawa, Yuri Nagibin from the book Dersi okhotnikbyV.
- 12/13/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Darren Aronofsky's 2000 addiction drama "Requiem for a Dream" is an aggressively devastating, forthrightly tragic scare film that long lingers in the consciousness. Based on the 1978 novel by Hubert Selby, Jr., "Requiem" bears all the emotional beats of ignorant "druggie" films of the 1930s ("Reefer Madness" and the like) with the added benefit of hypnotic, brilliant, cinematic style. As each of the characters descends deeper and deeper into self ruin at the hands of their drug thirst, we share their pain, feel their desperation, understand their loss. The world is only briefly bright at the times when the drugs are freshly consumed. All other times are devoted to seeking the high again once it wears off. As William S. Burroughs once said: "A junky runs on junk time. When his junk is cut off, the clock runs down and stops. All he can do is hang on and wait for non-junk time to start.
- 8/16/2022
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
In celebration of its 100th anniversary, the American Society of Cinematographers has released a list of the 100 best shot films of the 20th century.
This list was released to "showcase the best of cinematography as selected by professional cinematographers.” Here's how the list was put together:
The process of cultivating the 100 films began with Asc members each submitting 10 to 25 titles that were personally inspirational or perhaps changed the way they approached their craft. “I asked them — as cinematographers, members of the Asc, artists, filmmakers and people who love film and whose lives were shaped by films — to list the films that were most influential,” Fierberg explains. A master list was then complied, and members voted on what they considered to be the most essential 100 titles.
Here's a little sizzle reel that was cut together showcasing some of the films on the list:
It's hard to argue with the Top 10 films,...
This list was released to "showcase the best of cinematography as selected by professional cinematographers.” Here's how the list was put together:
The process of cultivating the 100 films began with Asc members each submitting 10 to 25 titles that were personally inspirational or perhaps changed the way they approached their craft. “I asked them — as cinematographers, members of the Asc, artists, filmmakers and people who love film and whose lives were shaped by films — to list the films that were most influential,” Fierberg explains. A master list was then complied, and members voted on what they considered to be the most essential 100 titles.
Here's a little sizzle reel that was cut together showcasing some of the films on the list:
It's hard to argue with the Top 10 films,...
- 1/9/2019
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
A breezy five-episode compilation movie about swindles plays out in five film capitals, under the eye of five different directors including Claude Chabrol and Jean-Luc Godard. But Roman Polanski’s Amsterdam segment couldn’t be included, which is a shame. It’s in B&W ‘scope, and everybody gets to bring their favorite cameraman and composer along.
The World’s Most Beautiful Swindlers
Blu-ray
Olive Films
1964 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 95 108, 124 min. / Street Date April 25, 2017 / Les plus belles escroqueries du monde / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98
Starring: Mie Hama, Ken Mitsuda, Nicole Karen, Gabriella Giorgelli, Jan Teulings, Arnold Gelderman, Guido Giuseppone, Giuseppe Mannajuolo, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Catherine Deneuve, Francis Blanche, Sacha Briquet, Jean-Louis Maury, Philomène Toulouse, Charles Denner, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean Seberg, László Szabó.
Cinematography: Raoul Coutard, Tonino Delli Colli, Jerzy Lipman, Asakazu Nakai, Jean Rabier
Film Editor:
Original Music: Serge Gainsbourg, Pierre Jansen, Krzysztof Komeda, Michel Legrand, Keitaro Miho, Piero Umiliani...
The World’s Most Beautiful Swindlers
Blu-ray
Olive Films
1964 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 95 108, 124 min. / Street Date April 25, 2017 / Les plus belles escroqueries du monde / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98
Starring: Mie Hama, Ken Mitsuda, Nicole Karen, Gabriella Giorgelli, Jan Teulings, Arnold Gelderman, Guido Giuseppone, Giuseppe Mannajuolo, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Catherine Deneuve, Francis Blanche, Sacha Briquet, Jean-Louis Maury, Philomène Toulouse, Charles Denner, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean Seberg, László Szabó.
Cinematography: Raoul Coutard, Tonino Delli Colli, Jerzy Lipman, Asakazu Nakai, Jean Rabier
Film Editor:
Original Music: Serge Gainsbourg, Pierre Jansen, Krzysztof Komeda, Michel Legrand, Keitaro Miho, Piero Umiliani...
- 5/16/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Plus: A news and article roundup and five perfect shots
If it’s Monday, then it’s time for a new week of episodes from our One Perfect Podcast channel.
Up first and dropping today, the latest installment of After the Credits, our new kind of review show with Columnist Matthew Monagle. This week Matthew is once again joined by Fsr Chief Film Critic Rob Hunter, and the film up for discussion is the Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds sci-fi freak-out Life.
Then, coming up on Wednesday it’s the newest episode of Shot by Shot in which myself, Fsr Video Content Editor H. Perry Horton, and One Perfect Shot founder Geoff Todd will be discussing the cinematography of the most adrenaline-fueled action film of all-time, Mad Max: Fury Road.
And finally, Fsr head honcho Neil Miller is back on Friday with another episode of The Big Idea, his weekly take on the biggest media and entertainment news...
If it’s Monday, then it’s time for a new week of episodes from our One Perfect Podcast channel.
Up first and dropping today, the latest installment of After the Credits, our new kind of review show with Columnist Matthew Monagle. This week Matthew is once again joined by Fsr Chief Film Critic Rob Hunter, and the film up for discussion is the Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds sci-fi freak-out Life.
Then, coming up on Wednesday it’s the newest episode of Shot by Shot in which myself, Fsr Video Content Editor H. Perry Horton, and One Perfect Shot founder Geoff Todd will be discussing the cinematography of the most adrenaline-fueled action film of all-time, Mad Max: Fury Road.
And finally, Fsr head honcho Neil Miller is back on Friday with another episode of The Big Idea, his weekly take on the biggest media and entertainment news...
- 3/27/2017
- by H. Perry Horton
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
After realizing that we'd never featured an Akira Kurosawa on Hit Me With Your Best Shot, we obviously had to. Ran (1985) was tempting but it gets a lot of attention already. So we opted to watch his other Shakespeare inspired masterpiece, Throne of Blood (1957) which is still the best Macbeth movie even if its more Macbeth-inspired than traditionally adapted.
If you've never seen it, give it a shot. It's gorgeous and haunting and unlike most Shakespeare films grippingly compact at only 110 minutes.
Hit Me With Your Best Shot(s)
Throne of Blood (1957)
Director: Akira Kurosawa; Cinematographer: Asakazu Nakai
Click on any of the 11 images to be taken to its accompanying article
Throne of Blood teaches us how to watch it.
-Antagony & Ecstasy
The minute we see Isuzu Yamada as Lady Asaji in this cold spare room, we know exactly where things will go...
-Scopophiliac at the Cinema
One of my...
If you've never seen it, give it a shot. It's gorgeous and haunting and unlike most Shakespeare films grippingly compact at only 110 minutes.
Hit Me With Your Best Shot(s)
Throne of Blood (1957)
Director: Akira Kurosawa; Cinematographer: Asakazu Nakai
Click on any of the 11 images to be taken to its accompanying article
Throne of Blood teaches us how to watch it.
-Antagony & Ecstasy
The minute we see Isuzu Yamada as Lady Asaji in this cold spare room, we know exactly where things will go...
-Scopophiliac at the Cinema
One of my...
- 4/27/2016
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
How to play? It's easy. You:
1) watch the movie
2) pick your shot
3) post it with the "why"
4) and we link up.
Tomorrow Evening April 26th
Throne Of Blood (1957)
Dir. Akira Kurosawa. Cinematographer Asakazu Nakai
Have we really not done a Kurosawa film in this series? My apologies. It's a Japanese classic with Kurosawa's muse Toshiro Mifune as a would be violent king with a scheming ambitious wife. Is it the best Macbeth movie ever made? Find out. (This is one of the gaps in my Kurosawa knowledge so I'll be discovering it with you.) [iTunes | Amazon]
Tuesday Evening May 3rd
Death Becomes Her (1992)
Dir. Robert Zemeckis. Cinematographer Dean Kundley
I need to talk about... Madeline... Ashton"
To celebrate the release of the new collectors edition BluRay (due April 26th), let's drink the potion with the vainglorious "Mad" (Meryl Streep) and vengeful "Hel" (Goldie Hawn) in this 'immortal' comedy classic, pun intended.
1) watch the movie
2) pick your shot
3) post it with the "why"
4) and we link up.
Tomorrow Evening April 26th
Throne Of Blood (1957)
Dir. Akira Kurosawa. Cinematographer Asakazu Nakai
Have we really not done a Kurosawa film in this series? My apologies. It's a Japanese classic with Kurosawa's muse Toshiro Mifune as a would be violent king with a scheming ambitious wife. Is it the best Macbeth movie ever made? Find out. (This is one of the gaps in my Kurosawa knowledge so I'll be discovering it with you.) [iTunes | Amazon]
Tuesday Evening May 3rd
Death Becomes Her (1992)
Dir. Robert Zemeckis. Cinematographer Dean Kundley
I need to talk about... Madeline... Ashton"
To celebrate the release of the new collectors edition BluRay (due April 26th), let's drink the potion with the vainglorious "Mad" (Meryl Streep) and vengeful "Hel" (Goldie Hawn) in this 'immortal' comedy classic, pun intended.
- 4/25/2016
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
★★★★★ During his illustrious career, when asked what he considered to be his best film, Akira Kurosawa would commonly respond "my next one". After 1985, however, his answer changed to Ran. At once gloriously epic and deeply personal, there are clear parallels to be found between the ageing director - who was 73 when filming started - and his crumbling protagonist, Hidetora (an incredible Tatsuya Nakadai). By the time the production began, Kurosawa was almost blind, with his long-time collaborators such as cinematographer Asakazu Nakai and production designer Yoshirô Muraki crafting his vision from descriptions and canvases that the he painted in preparation.
- 4/6/2016
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Ikiru
Written by Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Shinobu Hashimoto
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Japan, 1952
Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 film Ikiru is the type of movie that can change a life, or at least change a person’s way of looking at life. It is an extremely moving work, standing as a superb example of the emotional and inspirational power of cinema.
Ikiru is also an exceptional vehicle for Takashi Shimura, an actor known for his astonishing range over the course of 200-plus films. In Ikiru, while Kurosawa makes great use of faces in close-up throughout, there is none more expressive than that of Shimura as the cancer-ridden Public Affairs Section Chief Kanji Watanabe. Every emotion and every thought is transparently written on his aged and weary face—it’s hard to believe the actor would embody the vigorous leader of the rag-tag samurai team two years later in Seven Samurai. Here,...
Written by Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Shinobu Hashimoto
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Japan, 1952
Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 film Ikiru is the type of movie that can change a life, or at least change a person’s way of looking at life. It is an extremely moving work, standing as a superb example of the emotional and inspirational power of cinema.
Ikiru is also an exceptional vehicle for Takashi Shimura, an actor known for his astonishing range over the course of 200-plus films. In Ikiru, while Kurosawa makes great use of faces in close-up throughout, there is none more expressive than that of Shimura as the cancer-ridden Public Affairs Section Chief Kanji Watanabe. Every emotion and every thought is transparently written on his aged and weary face—it’s hard to believe the actor would embody the vigorous leader of the rag-tag samurai team two years later in Seven Samurai. Here,...
- 12/10/2015
- by Jeremy Carr
- SoundOnSight
Ikiru
Written by Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Shinobu Hashimoto
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Japan, 1952
Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 film Ikiru is the type of movie that can change a life, or at least change a person’s way of looking at life. It is an extremely moving work, standing as a superb example of the emotional and inspirational power of cinema.
Ikiru is also an exceptional vehicle for Takashi Shimura, an actor known for his astonishing range over the course of 200-plus films. In Ikiru, while Kurosawa makes great use of faces in close-up throughout, there is none more expressive than that of Shimura as the cancer-ridden Public Affairs Section Chief Kanji Watanabe. Every emotion and every thought is transparently written on his aged and weary face—it’s hard to believe the actor would embody the vigorous leader of the rag-tag samurai team two years later in Seven Samurai. Here,...
Written by Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Shinobu Hashimoto
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Japan, 1952
Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 film Ikiru is the type of movie that can change a life, or at least change a person’s way of looking at life. It is an extremely moving work, standing as a superb example of the emotional and inspirational power of cinema.
Ikiru is also an exceptional vehicle for Takashi Shimura, an actor known for his astonishing range over the course of 200-plus films. In Ikiru, while Kurosawa makes great use of faces in close-up throughout, there is none more expressive than that of Shimura as the cancer-ridden Public Affairs Section Chief Kanji Watanabe. Every emotion and every thought is transparently written on his aged and weary face—it’s hard to believe the actor would embody the vigorous leader of the rag-tag samurai team two years later in Seven Samurai. Here,...
- 12/10/2015
- by Jeremy Carr
- SoundOnSight
In six decades of filmmaking and thirty plus titles in his filmography, it’s nearly impossible to determine the weighted importance concerning a number of the influential works from Japanese auteur Akira Kurosawa, considered by many to be among the most notable directors from Japan, alongside peers such as Mizoguchi and Ozu. Instead, it’s easier to discuss his work in strategic measures regarding theme or motif, such as his famed Shakespearean adaptations or epic Samurai classics, pillaged endlessly by Western filmmakers in proceeding generations. But certainly a definite standout is his 1952 title, Ikiru, which roughly translates as “to live.” A powerfully humanistic title examining the significance of life as something only to be rightly cherished when seen through the lens of death, it stands at the slender end of a filmography generally examining human tendency for apathy, revenge, and other plateaus of self-destructive forces. Moving without being sentimental, Kurosawa...
- 12/1/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Akira Kurosawa goes full tilt humanist with this emotionally wrenching, vastly insightful look at human nature. A faceless bureaucrat, alone and empty, is diagnosed with stomach cancer. He rebels and breaks down, but then finds a way to give meaning to his life even as he's losing it. Kurosawa one-ups the Italian Neorealists by seeing hope and value even in the oblivion of the human condition. Ikiru Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 221 1952 / Color / 1:37 flat Academy / 143 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / To Live / Street Date November 24, 2015 / 39.95 Starring Takashi Shimura, Shinichi Himori, Haruo Tanaka, Minoru Chiaki, Miki Odagiri, Bokuzen Hidari Cinematography Asakazu Nakai Production Designer So Matsuyama Original Music Fumio Hayasaka Written by Shinobu Hashimoto, Akira Kurosawa and Hideo Oguni Produced by Sojiro Motoki Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Criterion has made slow but steady progress upgrading its impressive Akira Kurosawa library from DVD to Blu-ray. The newest...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Criterion has made slow but steady progress upgrading its impressive Akira Kurosawa library from DVD to Blu-ray. The newest...
- 12/1/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
“French Burglars And Shakespearean Samurais”
By Raymond Benson
Two of the superb releases recently issued by The Criterion Collection are classics from the 1950s international scene. One is arguably the best caper/heist movie ever made, and the other is perhaps the best Shakespearean adaptation ever produced.
First up—Rififi, released in 1955 and directed by American director Jules Dassin—who had exiled himself from America due to the blacklist. It’s a film noir made in France with French and Italian actors and a French crew. As the lyrics in a cabaret number, sung by Magali Noel in the film, reveal, rififi means “rough and tumble.” In other words, Rififi is about riff-raff, tough guys, and would-be gangsters. In this case, the protagonists are a quartet of jewel thieves who plan a big caper together—to break into the safe in a notable jewelry store in Paris. Led by Tony...
By Raymond Benson
Two of the superb releases recently issued by The Criterion Collection are classics from the 1950s international scene. One is arguably the best caper/heist movie ever made, and the other is perhaps the best Shakespearean adaptation ever produced.
First up—Rififi, released in 1955 and directed by American director Jules Dassin—who had exiled himself from America due to the blacklist. It’s a film noir made in France with French and Italian actors and a French crew. As the lyrics in a cabaret number, sung by Magali Noel in the film, reveal, rififi means “rough and tumble.” In other words, Rififi is about riff-raff, tough guys, and would-be gangsters. In this case, the protagonists are a quartet of jewel thieves who plan a big caper together—to break into the safe in a notable jewelry store in Paris. Led by Tony...
- 1/5/2014
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Seven Samurai
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Written by Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni
1954, USA
Last Saturday marked the birthday of visionary director, Akira Kurosawa, on what would have been his 103rd birthday. For years, I have known the high regard reserved for Kurosawa but have never seen any one of his films all the way through. I vaguely remember falling asleep during Ran and Rashomon during my early teens. With so many films to choose from, I decided to watch Kurosawa’s winner of the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival nominated for two Academy Awards, Seven Samurai (1954). The film is Kurosawa’s most popular in the West and has spawned dozens of remakes since its release.
This story of sixteenth century feudal Japan is deceptively simple: a poor farming village is terrorized by bandits who threaten to steal their entire crop and raze the village. The villagers...
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Written by Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni
1954, USA
Last Saturday marked the birthday of visionary director, Akira Kurosawa, on what would have been his 103rd birthday. For years, I have known the high regard reserved for Kurosawa but have never seen any one of his films all the way through. I vaguely remember falling asleep during Ran and Rashomon during my early teens. With so many films to choose from, I decided to watch Kurosawa’s winner of the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival nominated for two Academy Awards, Seven Samurai (1954). The film is Kurosawa’s most popular in the West and has spawned dozens of remakes since its release.
This story of sixteenth century feudal Japan is deceptively simple: a poor farming village is terrorized by bandits who threaten to steal their entire crop and raze the village. The villagers...
- 4/3/2013
- by Katherine Springer
- SoundOnSight
High and Low Directed by: Akira Kurosawa Written by: Ryuzo Kikushima, Hideo Oguni and Akira Kurosawa Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Kyoko Kagawa, Tatsuya Mihashi, Tatsuya Nakadai With the summer blockbuster season wrapping up and a quarter of the year to go, it may be too early to pick a favourite movie of 2011. However, of all the classic films I'll get around to watching for the first time this year, I can comfortably say that Akira Kurosawa's High and Low will likely be my favourite. I arrived a little late to this party, but it's never too late to catch up with great cinema and what better way to do so than with a blu ray release by the Criterion Collection? This film is definitely a buy. Regular Kurosawa collaborator Toshiro Mifune plays Kingo Gondo, a successful business man working for a company called National Shoes. His insistence upon high quality...
- 8/24/2011
- by Jay C.
- FilmJunk
Tatsuya Nakadai, Daisuke Ryu in Akira Kurosawa's Ran Ran Review: Part II In Ran, Asakazu Nakai, Takao Saito, and Masaharu Ueda's cinematography shows that there's much more to great cinematography than just good scenery. One needs only look at films like Sean Penn’s Into the Wild or Walter Salles’ The Motorcycle Diaries to see that beautiful mountainscapes do not equal great art. Ran's cinematographers, by contrast, show how framing and flattening out imagery with telephoto lenses can render reality into a sort of Japanese flat art depiction of the world. That also illustrates the superfluity and flat out wrongheadedness of most critical writing on the use of certain types of lenses to get certain effects, whether in Ran or in general. Why? Because the flattening of images (such as in the openings ceremonial scenes in the mountains, especially when the frame is crowded) is not important for how it is achieved,...
- 3/29/2011
- by Dan Schneider
- Alt Film Guide
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