100 + 1 years after his birth, the Panorama selects three masterpieces and great directorial risks that are indicative of the breadth of his work. “Seven Samurai” constitutes his most recognisable film, a saga that made him famous in the West. His ultimate humanistic film, “Red Beard”, recounts the initiation to real life of a young doctor next to the idealist Niide (Toshiro Mifune), at the latter’s last collaboration with Kurosawa. “Dodes’ka-den” is his first film in colour, documenting in a dreamlike quality the life of a group of Tokyo slum-dwellers. The commercial failure of the film sent Kurosawa in deep depression and forced him to look for funding outside his homeland.

Dodes’ka-den

Japan/Ιαπωνία, 1970, εγχ./col.
Σκην./Dir.: Akira Kurosawa. Σεν./Scr.: Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Shinobu Hashimoto. Φωτ./Cin.: Yasumichi Fukuzawa, Takao Saitô. Μοντ./Ed.: Reiko Kaneko. Μουσ./Mus.: Tôru Takemitsu. Ηθ./Cast: Yoshitaka Zushi, Kin Sugai, Toshiyuki Tonomura, Shinsuke Minami. Παρ./Prod.: Akira Kurosawa, Yôichi Matsue. Διάρκεια/Dur.: 140΄.

In his first colour film Akira Kurosawa tells stories from everyday life, through his trademark lyricism. His camera is focused of the “damned” of the society: workers, children, people who dream of escaping from their own lives. Kurosawa approaches them tenderly, in a poetic mood. Dodes’ka-den is a humanistic masterpiece.

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Red Beard

Japan/Ιαπωνία, 1965, μ/α/b&w.
Σκην./Dir.: Akira Kurosawa. Σεν./Scr.: Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Masato Ide, Ryûzô Kikushima. Φωτ./Cin.: Asakazu Nakai, Takao Saitô. Μουσ./Mus.: Masaru Satô. Ηθ./Cast: Toshirô Mifune, Yûzô Kayama, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Reiko Dan. Παρ./Prod.: Ryûzô Kikushima, Tomoyuki Tanaka. Διάρκεια/Dur.: 185΄.

This is the last movie Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune did together as this is the last black and white film Kurosawa made. Red Beard tells the story of a young doctor in 1825 Japan who finds the essence of medicine and helps the fellow man, under the director of the hospital that he works for. Akira Kurosawa, a master of action, proves to be just as good when dealing with emotion.

Shichinin no samurai/ Seven Samurai

Japan/Ιαπωνία, 1954, μ/α/b&w.
Σκην./Dir.: Akira Kurosawa. Σεν./Scr.: Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Shinobu Hashimoto. Φωτ./Cin.: Asakazu Nakai. Μοντ./Ed.: Akira Kurosawa. Μουσ./Mus.: Fumio Hayasaka. Ηθ./Cast: Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima, Yukiko Shimazaki. Παρ./Prod.: Sôjirô Motoki. Διάρκεια/Dur.: 202΄.

A veteran samurai, who has fallen on hard times, answers a village's request for protection from bandits. He gathers 6 other samurai to help him, and they teach the townspeople how to defend themselves, and they supply the samurai with three small meals a day. The film culminates in a giant battle when 40 bandits attack the village. «Shichinin no samurai» is landmark on the action genre and is considered by many as one of the greatest films of all time.

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Ran 

Japan/Ιαπωνία, 1985, εγχ./col.
Σκην./Dir.: Akira Kurosawa. Σεν./Scr.: Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Masato Ide. Φωτ./Cin.: Asakazu Nakai, Takao Saito, Masaharu Ueda. Μοντ./Ed.: Akira Kurosawa. Μουσ./Mus.: Toru Takemitsu. Ηθ./Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryu. Παρ./Prod.: Serge Silberman, Masato Hara. Διάρκεια/Dur.: 160΄. 

In his last epic film and the most expensive –up to that time- Japanese production, Kurosawa’s “Ran” is an exceptional adaptation of Shakespeare’s “King Lear”. When a ruler abdicates in favor of his three sons, he realises that the son whom he banishes is the only one still loyal to him.

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