Akira Kurosawa - Overrated?

God I hate the word overrated.

Anyway, personally I wouldn't have him near the top of my list of favourite Japanese directors let alone a list of all directors but he has made a heap of good movies and is deserving of his status in the movie world for his influence.

I would also be surprised if anyone watched more than 1 or 2 of his movies and didn't find something entertaining. It's probably one of the reasons I don't love his movies is that many focus a bit much on "entertainment" for my tastes.

Yeah, entertainment is a mortal sin, especially artistic entertainment.

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"tastes" Mark. There was no mention of sins or anything related

Well, the movies that I've seen from him (Ikiru and Stray Dog) are definitely not shallow films, focused merely on entertaining (and even if they were, I wouldn't really have a problem with it if they were good). I think he combines thematical depth and entertainment brilliantly.

I should watch more of his films to form a more extensive opinion about him, but at this point I definitely don't think he's "overrated".

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Cobpyth's Movie Log ~ 2019

yes. thank you

people use the term overrated when they're basically trying to convey that their opinion somehow supersedes the consensus

problem is, as it pertains to movies, there is someone for every single movie in the world who will like it less than the general consensus. so basically every last movie in the world is overrated to someone

the only thing i feel good about calling overrated is the term overrated, itself. as in the person using the term is overrating, or over-valuing, their own opinion

I'm not sure if anyone is claiming that but it wouldn't make sense to do so. None of his films are shallow.

The Idiot was an example of the opposite. It didn't really work because it almost tried to have too much depth. Still a good movie with a great performance by Setsuko Hara.

I think Kurosawa is properly rated (if that's a thing) as one of the best directors of all-time. I recently watched High and Low for the first time, and wow, that's one of the best films I've seen in a long time. The Dissolve recently wrote about it as their "Movie of the Week" (This article looks at the framing that Kurosawa used in some of the scenes and is pretty interesting) and I think it's a great movie to watch for those who might have only seen his samurai films. There's a riveting story, great acting, interesting composition, and a good look at the social atmosphere in Japan during that time period.

Kurosawa is a genius. He deserves all the praise he gets.

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Fear and Loathing in MoFo... The Gunslinger 45's Top 50 Favorite Films

In the 10 Ring: Gunslinger45's reviews

I found that all the films in your top 10 that I have watched (9 of them) to be highly entertaining. None of these 9 films would be art films in my book (yes, I wouldn't regard Ozu's work as art cinema, even though some people appear to think so his slice of life films were just blockbusters in the Japan of 1950's, same way as Cameron's films are blockbusters today), in fact I perceived a thing like PMMM, which you appear to have perceived as strictly conventional, to be much more artsy than those 9 movies. So the perception of what constitutes entertainment film and art film is indeed subjective.

In fact, I found Ikiru to be significantly less "entertaining" than 8 out of the 9 in your top 10 that I have watched. His late filmography, such as Dreams and Ran, is almost pure art cinema, much more serious art cinema than those 9 movies in your top 10.

Akira Kurosawa basically was the ultimate filmmaker. His films are the ultimate absolute example of pure cinema. Nothing is more cinema than Kurosawa, simultaneously mainstream and cult, simultaneously respected by the public and the critics, influencing the work of directors as varied as Miyazaki, Tarkovsky, Spielberg and Scorsese (also the development of manga as well), his films are truly monumental works of art that will be forever remembered to the far future.

When I watch a Kurosawa film it always feels like as if I had already watched it before, thanks to his incredible talent of making the new appear familiar. The first movie of his that I watched was Kagemusha, about 6 years ago, and I still remember how poignant it was, even though I wasn't that much used to his film language at the time.

Kurosawa is the filmmaker that developed film into the medium for telling stories to near perfection. SInce 95% of the films made today are based on storytelling, Kurosawa's influence is greater than the other one that can claim the mantle of greatest, Tarkovsky (who developed cinema into a visual art more than anyone).

Indeed. That's why his films are the closest live action cinema got to great art. They are simply legendary material, stuff that works on all levels. Basically, his movies are just how movies are SUPPOSED to be!

When the flush of a newborn sun fell first on Eden's green and gold,
Our father Adam sat under the Tree and scratched with a stick in the mold;
And the first rude sketch that the world had seen was joy to his mighty heart,
Till the Devil whispered behind the leaves: "It's pretty, but is it Art?"

Kurosawa is most certainly not overrated... Come on, man!

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Regardless of how mainstream he was, Ozu made art films.

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Mubi

What he did for storytelling in film will resonate forever. You are looking at a movie made in the 1940s. Now compare it to the other movies made then. Example, you just finished Seven Samurai, now I challenge you to watch The Magnificent Seven. Magnificent Seven is unwatchable to anyone thats seen Seven Samurai. He was head and shoulders above all peers, like Olivier is to acting is what Kurosawa is to film making. Sorry you cant see it.

I understand your point, and I have Seven Samurai in my Top 100, but I've "unwatched" The Magnificent Seven several times and I've more than "unenjoyed" it each time.

I found “Rashômon“ to be overrated as well. Not that I did not enjoy it, especially the photography in the woods and the scene with the medium.

Personally, I have never been a fan of the Ground Hog Day type format. It makes any film feel repetitive and drawn out, but I understand it was important to this particular story, so I can accept that.

My main issue with the film, however, is how the men at the beginning of the film go on and on about how this event that occurred to this man was absolutely the most horrible thing imaginable. To quote the priest "I, for one, have seen hundreds of men dying like animals, but even I've never before heard anything as terrible as this. Horrible, it's horrible! There's never been anything, anything as terrible as this, never! It's worse than fires, wars, epidemics, or bandits!" And the horrific event turns out to be some guy getting himself killed in the woods in one of three or four equally mundane ways. Seriously, that’s the Earth-shattering event?

Also, the scene with the baby seemed abrupt, a bit forced and quite simplistic, even for the time.

Couldn't agree more. I prefer him over, say, Kubrick (whom I love as well). If anything, he's underrated! I bet more people today know who Beyonce is.

I don't like him too much but I don't think that he is ''overrated'' for that. He is one of the greatest influence in Cinema

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I tried watching Kagemusha with a couple of my friends. Well, one of them was willing to go through with it, but the other friend made us turn the movie off after the first scene. The first scene was brilliant, but to him it was boring because he would rather watch a stereotypical Hollywood movie starring John Cusack about Schizophrenic serial killer with Multiple Personality Disorder.

When people criticise Kurasawa that just triggers a red flag to me. When that person's criticism is extremely vague, that just confirms my suspicion. They are an ignorant twat who knows nothing about film.