Akira Kurosawa - Overrated?

For the record: I'd rather watch Seven Samurai than Citizen Kane. Any day of the week. I actually just caught Rashomon again a little while back and I tend to think that the more times I see his films the more I get from them. Someone might say that this could also be the case for a movie like Citizen Kane, but I think that's a bunch of hooey, that movie is a cold fish and I dislike it more and more every time I see it.

I still have several Kurosawa flicks I need to see. I do sort of agree with the sentiment that anyone can be called overrated. Just the way it is I reckon.

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No.

Some of those other Japanese directors are, watching their slow moving, boring movies are close to torture. Kurosawa had the good sense to be influenced by Western filmmakers like John Ford which keeps them from being snoozes unlike many of his contemporaries. After him more Japanese filmmakers were influenced by him and the Americans and others.

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I honestly think Kagemusha must have been based on a lost Shakespeare play.

The criticisms of his western "objectifying" style extend a bit too far for me in that it would have to envelope almost every single film ever made save for a few by Godard, Malick, or other "radical" experimentalists who attempt to undermine the photographic aspect of cinema in favor of its experience.

Also, as I have never really experienced Noh drama except in films, it's hard for me to feel strongly that Kurosawa is a betrayal of it while Mizoguchi/Ozu are not.

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Those the two guys I was thinking of, boring.

Japanese cinema before Kurowsawa is too, too Japanese.

No. Not at all. Ok, so I've only ever seen Yojimbo, but when I worked at a video shop, we must have watched that film a dozen times. It's gripping. I want to see the rest of his Samurai flicks.

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Wow, I didn't expect this conversation to go on for so long, there is going to be no winner as everyone has there own views and opinions. But a bit of respect on both sides is still due even if you don't like his style.

I think watching more than 2 films would be a good start... I'm not a fan of most of the samurai style films from him(Throne of Blood is a must see though), but High & Low is one of my favourites from the director.



Try the non-samurai stuff and if you still don't like him, then give up.

And no, not an overrated director.

I've seen Kurosawa's entire oeuvre and I must say out of about thirty films, only three of them I wasn't fond of. Rashomon is getting a bad reputation here, but what makes that film so incredible was it was one of the first, and still one of the best, films that uses a displacement theory in temporal frequency. In that regard, Kurosawa becomes a great experimenter, and innovator, to the world of cinema outside his already beaten, and well deserved placement, as one of the cinema's finest storytellers. Complaints of his preference of acting seems very much based on a style of Kabuki acting, wherein the actor gives too much rather than too little. But I actually enjoy this style of acting. In fact many directors, I can think of two in the case of Spielberg and Cassavetes, ask their actors to give more in the realms of acting in their first attempts at the scene. Later the director tones it down to his personal preference, obviously Kurosawa enjoyed keeping emotions high, but I think that's what gives his films the stamina and strength to survive the test of time. It is true that most of his gendai-geki have a more subdued acting style than say his jedai-geki, (with the exception of perhaps Red Beard more or less), so if taste preference is based on two jedai-geki films, I'd suggest investigating in those. This may be a case of "different strokes", but I've always enjoyed the works of Kurosawa, even in his worst films I find something of redeemable value in them. So hopefully this explanation helps.

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Mizoguchi and Ozu boring? nah Will you're wrong!

No, he is not overrated. If anything, he is less known and appreciated than he should be. He was a master, a groundbreaker, and a major influence. Like Scorcese or any other great director, his body of work isn't perfect, but it's undeniably historically important to the craft.

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I wouldn't really know where to begin trying to sell Kurosawa's "relentlessly boring" artifacts, or why I should care, but among the many things cinema can replicate from other arts (painterly or photographic composition, theater, etc.) two of the ones that I find uniquely pleasing are it's ability to give us an eye that is free from gravity and physical constraints (as it can be in dreams) and to visualize multiple states of awareness. I think the latter is often called a "subjective" camera, but what gets me is how the camera can be simultaneously floating outside of any single human consciousness and also aware of it. In Rashomon Kurosawa does that as beautifully and skillfully as anyone else ever has (and it's a pretty rare talent), but if the film can't stand on it's own visuals, I don't think my words are going to rationalize it for you any better. I would definitely recommend going back to Rashomon periodically, though.

I prefer Mizoguchi to Kurosawa.. Have you seen Ugetsu? I don't consider his films to be 'boring' at all. You might just like Mizoguchi's films as they do not have the "over-acting". Out of the 3 greatest japanese directors, I find Ozu to be the most 'boring' of them.

I've seen part of Rashomon, and it was pretty good. I really have to see Seven Samurai, though.

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i will watch this http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2680332032/tt0100998 tonight...that should be trippy.

As usual you'll be watching under the influence of Serbian Bo-bo?

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It;'s really REALLY cool and visually it's just so damn pretty.

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Yeah,you are right...it is almost pretty as a real dream...especially the part when he enters in Van Gog pictures.

Is this awesome or what?

i'm agree i find him overrated too . Maybe i'm the only one in the world to think that but I don't find a movie like seven samurai good or entertaining so ...

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You're not the only one to think he's overrated, but you're wrong about his movies not being good or entertaining.

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