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Akira Kurosawa _________________
JAPAN 1910-1998
In 1969, Kurosawa gave up trying to make the movie Tora Tora Tora, with 20th Century Fox, after two years had failed to produce results. European and American filmmakers emulated his directing style, even re-making some of his films as "Spaghetti Westerns". Fistful of Dollars (1964), directed by Sergio Leone was based on Yojimbo, and The Seven Samurai became The Magnificent Seven (1960). During the 1960's there began a steady decline from the pinnacle of success he had achieved in the late 1950's. In Japan, he was criticized for being too "western" and his choice of writers like Shakespeare and Dostoyevsky was viewed with suspicion. In 1971, Kurosawa attempted suicide.
In 1990, the Academy Awards presented Kurosawa with an Honorary Award for cinematic accomplishments that have inspired, delighted, and entertained worldwide audiences and influenced filmmakers throughout the world.
MAJOR FILMS:
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Akira Kurosawa was born in Tokyo in 1910, the youngest of eight children. Displaying an early interest in art, he was allowed to attend a private art school while still a teenager. Unable to make a living at painting he changed courses at age 26 and was hired as an assistant director by a prominent Japanese production company. Kurosawa directed ten films during the 1940's, but it was the film Rashomon, released in 1950, that gained international attention. More popular internationally than in his own Japan, his achievements brought the attention of Hollywood production companies as well.