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Rashomon (1950) More at IMDbPro »Rashômon (original title)
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1-20 of 25 items from 2011 « Prev | Next »
My favourite film: Seven Samurai
14 December 2011 1:13 AM, PST | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »
Laurence Topham continues our writers' favourite film series with Kurosawa's epic about 16th-century Japanese swords-for-hire
Does this review cut it? Write your own here or have your say in the comments section below
A group of samurai, along with a motley gang of armed villagers, await the arrival of 13 formidable bandits on horseback. With piercing rain beating down on them, Kambei, the leader of the samurai, solemnly says: "This is the final battle." With hellish cries, the mounted invaders charge through the black mud and into the village, where they are annihilated by a frenzy of makeshift spears and deadly arrows. Samurai swords cut into the horses, bodies drop into the mud – mud that lurched off the screen and into my socks.
Long before I was to experience the technical marvels of 3D, I was experiencing something much more cinematically powerful – the percussive power of Akira Kurosawa's editing. The subtitles didn't even register. »
- Laurence Topham
Blu-ray Reviews: In The Realm Of The Senses and Empire Of Passion
17 October 2011 3:14 AM, PDT | Obsessed with Film | See recent Obsessed with Film news »
Today sees the hi-def release of two of the most controversial and sexually explicit films of the 1970s, both of which came courtesy of Japanese New Wave auteur Nagisa Oshima – later the director of the more widely seen David Bowie-starring WWII movie Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (incidentally itself coming to Blu-ray next week… we are giving copies away Here).
In two tastefully presented “double play” Blu-ray/DVD sets from StudioCanal come 1976′s In the Realm of the Senses and 1978′s more restrained thematic follow-up Empire of Passion. Both films share the same leading man, Tatsuya Fuji, but whilst the former was either banned or heavily censored upon released due to its many graphic scenes of “unsimulated sex”, the latter (less explicit) work earned Oshima a well deserved Best Director prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Oshima’s most critically significant text, »
- Robert Beames
Report: First Delhi International Film Festival
1 October 2011 1:48 AM, PDT | DearCinema.com | See recent DearCinema.com news »
The first edition of Delhi International Film Festival, organized from September 19-25, 2011 by Taj Enlighten Film Society along with three major colleges of the Delhi University as Venue Partners, consisted of a 34 films line-up that played over a period of 7 days. Films from all over the world, from different eras and by some of the most acclaimed directors of cinema played at IP College for Women, Kirori Mal College and Miranda House.
The festival, that opened with documentarist Rajesh Jala’s fantastically effective film Children of the Pyre, on 19th September 2011, divided the films playing at the festival into five sections : Contemporary World Cinema, Classical Cinema, Country Focus : Germany, a Retrospective of Akira Kurosawa Films and Special Selections.
The announced intention of the inaugural edition of the festival in not wanting to organize the festival in an auditorium elsewhere and instead, in college auditoria, is to bring these films directly to the audiences, »
- Anuj Malhotra
Remaking Kurosawa? People Have Been Doing It For Years
24 August 2011 8:00 PM, PDT | FilmExperience | See recent FilmExperience news »
Akira Kurosawa's Centennial last spring is still causing ripples. Splendent Media extends the celebration in a potentially controversial way. They have the rights to an enormous part of the Kurosawa catalogue should anyone want to purchase them for a remake. Kneejerk reaction is NOOOOooooooooo. But then you realize that Rashomon, The Hidden Fortress, and The Seven Samurai (and to a lesser extent many of his other films) have already been ripped off hundreds of times for movies and television. Hell, I've even seen an Off Broadway musical based on Rashomon!
So why would a straight up remake be any different?
Here are the 26 Kurosawa directed pics (of the 32 he made) that they're offering rights to:
Sanshiro Sugata (1943)
The Most Beautiful (1944)
Sanshiro Sugata Part2 (1945)
The Men who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail (1945)
No Regrets For Our Youth (1946)
One Wonderful Sunday (1947)
The Quiet Duel (1949)
Stray Dog (1949)
Scandal (1950)
Rashomon (1950) -- Honorary »
- NATHANIEL R
Splendent Media Selling Remake Rights For 69 Akira Kurosawa Films
24 August 2011 12:30 PM, PDT | Slash Film | See recent Slash Film news »
This is a story I'd just like to ignore, in the hopes that pretending it isn't happening will decrease the chances of any sale actually going down. But it is already all over the place, so might as well stare it right in the face. A new-ish company called Splendent Media is now repping the remake rights for dozens of Akira Kurosawa films. The company holds sixty-nine titles all told: 26 are films Kurosawa directed; 24 are films he wrote; and 19 are scripts he penned that were never produced. That last point is somewhat tantalizing in the same way that unproduced Stanley Kubrick screenplays represent a vague sense of possibility. But who am I kidding? If we get... let's be generous and say two films out of this that don't suck, I think we'll be beating the odds. Details below. Variety [1] says that most of the major films Kurosawa directed are included in this deal. »
- Russ Fischer
Ran remade: Kurosawa rights up for grabs
24 August 2011 4:11 AM, PDT | Shadowlocked | See recent Shadowlocked news »
It seems to be the nature of the Hollywood beast: classic films will eventually get remade, under the guise of 'introducing them to a new audience'. Not only the fun, cheesy remakes like Fright Night, or Conan the Barbarian: the rights to several classic Akira Kurosawa films are now on the market.
According to Variety, Splendent Media will represent worldwide rights (outside of Japan) for 69 Kurosawa titles, including films directed by Kurosawa (26 titles), films written by Kurosawa (24 titles) and unproduced screenplays (19 titles). For a full list you can check out Splendent's website: suffice it to say that the list includes Yojimbo, Rashomon, Idiot, and my personal favorite Ran, Kurosawa's 1985 adaptation of King Lear.
For some fans, this news is disheartening. Why not just let a classic film stand, as-is? There are plenty of ways of introducing a classic film to a new audience without remaking it entirely. Theaters have special showings of classic films, »
Remake Rights For 69 Akira Kurosawa Projects To Be Represented By Splendent Media
24 August 2011 1:27 AM, PDT | cinemablend.com | See recent Cinema Blend news »
Because of the way modern Hollywood works eventually all of the great directors will have their best films remade, and in recent years Akira Kurosawa has been no exception. Though none of them have been reached the production stage yet, studios are developing remakes of Seven Samurai, High and Low, Drunken Angel and Ikiru as you read this. But if you thought that was going to be the end of it, I have some bad news. Variety reports that a company called Splendent Media has made a deal to "represent worldwide rights" for 26 of Kurosawa's directed films, 24 he wrote but didn't direct and 19 of his unproduced screenplays. While this obviously doesn't include the titles mentioned above, which are all set up at other studios, movies like Ran, Rashomon, Yojimbo, and Dreams are all included in the deal. The company will largely be serving as a sales agent for the titles, »
Kurosawa filmography in the remake realms
23 August 2011 5:10 PM, PDT | The Hollywood News | See recent The Hollywood News news »
If you’re at all concerned for any throwable objects within arms reach, any Akira Kurosawa fans will probably want to look away right now. A few months ago the Weinstein company announced they were remaking Seven Samurai, but another American company, Splendent Media, now has the remake rights to no less than 69 titles from the legendary Japanese director. Variety report the deal includes films such as Yojimbo, Dreams, Kagemusha and Rashomon.
Splendent Media are also entitled to 24 films Kurosawa wrote and a further 19 screenplays that never made it into production, although the agreement doesn’t include the Weinstein remake, or the upcoming modernisations of Ikiru, Drunken Angel and High And Low. A full list of the films can be found at Splendentmedia.com.
Although there will no doubt be internet outrage over this announcement, the unproduced scripts are intriguing to say the least, and there is a chance that »
- Ben McCann
Many Kurosawa Classics Could Get Remade
23 August 2011 12:23 PM, PDT | Dark Horizons | See recent Dark Horizons news »
How does one respect a man considered one of the greatest filmmakers to have ever lived? You exploit him of course.
Variety reports that L.A.-based Splendent Media have signed a deal to represent worldwide rights to 69 projects from the late legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.
The company's top brass Sakiko Yamada says "We are thrilled and deeply honored to have been entrusted to represent this spectacular treasure trove of films and screenplays, and to help contemporary filmmakers introduce a new generation of moviegoers to these unforgettable stories".
The notable upside of the deal is that we could see film adaptations of up to nineteen screenplays penned by Kurosawa that were never produced. The concern however is the production of questionable remakes of the other fifty properties including twenty-six directed by the man himself.
The list includes some films considered amongst the greatest of all time including the likes of "Rashomon, »
- Garth Franklin
Remake Rights Acquired For Bulk of Akira Kurosawa’s Filmography, Including 19 Unproduced Screenplays
23 August 2011 9:44 AM, PDT | The Film Stage | See recent The Film Stage news »
Few foreign directors have had as big of an influence on American cinema as Akira Kurosawa. Some people — hopefully not those reading this article — won’t recognize the name, but his works helped create The Man with No Name, for one thing, and Seven Samurai alone could be argued as one of the five most important movies in film history. There’s been a few remakes here and there; if you don’t count A Fistful of Dollars, then The Magnificent Seven probably takes the crown as the most popular.
Variety (via ThePlaylist) reports that Splendent Media has acquired the rights to 69 of his works, which includes 19 unproduced screenplays credited to his name, in addition to 24 scripts that he worked on but did not direct. Some films are out of their hands — remakes rights for Seven Samurai, High and Low, Ikiru, and Drunken Angel belong to other companies. That much being said, »
- jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
A Whole Bunch of Akira Kurosawa Remakes Could Be Coming Soon
23 August 2011 9:07 AM, PDT | firstshowing.net | See recent FirstShowing.net news »
If you were upset about the Weinstein Company's forthcoming remake of the classic film Seven Samurai from legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, well, you may want to sit down for this. A company called Splendent Media has just picked up the remake rights to no less than 69 titles from the director. The properties include 26 of the films Kurosawa directed such as Rashomon, Yojimbo, Dreams, Kagemusha and plenty more. The deal also includes 24 films he wrote but did not direct, and 19 screenplays that never made it in front of a camera. Honestly, the latter portion of this news doesn't sound bad. More info below. Variety notes that the deal does not include other Kurosawa projects already in development like the aforementioned Seven Samurai remake, and updates of High and Low, Drunken Angel and Ikiru. For the full list of films in the package, check out Splendentmedia.com. While I'm wholly »
- Ethan Anderton
Splendent Media Picks up Remake Rights to Majority of Akira Kurosawa’s Filmography including 19 Unproduced Screenplays
23 August 2011 7:42 AM, PDT | Collider.com | See recent Collider.com news »
Akira Kurosawa is one of the greatest directors of all-time. It's indisputable so don't even try. However, his work is not immune from the clutches of remakes and his classics Seven Samurai, High and Low, Ikiru, and Drunken Angel have all been in development at one point or another. However, most of his work has remained out of the hands of a single company until now. Variety reports that new production company Splendent Media (the folks behind Al Pacino's upcoming film Wild Salome) has picked up the remake rights to 26 of Kurosawa's films including Yojimbo, Ran, Kagemusha, Dreams, and Rashomon. In addition, Splendent also now owns 24 films Kurosawa wrote but didn't direct and 19 unproduced screenplays. Hit the jump for why you shouldn't be dismayed. While it's tough to argue that no one will be able to tell these stories as well as Kurosawa, we should all remember that Kurosawa also adapted stories. »
- Matt Goldberg
High and Low (The Criterion Collection)
4 August 2011 2:16 PM, PDT | JustPressPlay.net | See recent JustPressPlay news »
When most people think of films by Akira Kurosawa, their minds jump to Rashomon, Yojimbo, Ran, Sanjuro and others which take place in the golden age of the Samurai. It’s not an unjustified generalization, as he did make quite a few and they’re often held up as the iconic films of his career. But the argument could be made that the films where he strayed outside of feudal Japan into the modern era of business, crime, and bureaucracy are just as deserving of the accolades. A perfect example is High and Low, the tale of a kidnapper’s ransom against a wealthy man’s morals where ethical quandaries fly left and right as a criminal investigation ensues. Criterion Collection’s Blu-ray release of Kurosawa’s crime masterpiece gives the film a nice polish and enough supplementary material with its lead, Toshiro Mifune, and Kurosawa himself to make it »
- Lex Walker
A Journey Through the Eclipse Series: Akira Kurosawa’s Scandal
25 July 2011 9:05 PM, PDT | CriterionCast | See recent CriterionCast news »
Another one of the great films of Akira Kurosawa is about to receive its well-deserved upgrade to the Blu-ray format tomorrow, as Criterion is re-releasing his 1963 masterpiece High and Low, based on the same package and supplements it received in its DVD reboot a couple years ago. To mark the occasion here in this column, I thought it made sense to acquaint myself with Scandal, an earlier example (from 1950) of Kurosawa’s career-spanning analysis and critique of modern Japanese society, found in Eclipse Series 7: Postwar Kurosawa.
Even though he’s typically less celebrated for his contemporary dramas, compared to his awe-inspiring samurai and historical epics, everyone who’s come to admire Kurosawa for his ability to stage compelling spectacles set in the distant past owes themselves the opportunity to see what he achieved when he focused his attention on the contemporary context.
Scandal was the last film Kurosawa »
- David Blakeslee
Review: 13 Assassins – Almost As Good As Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai!
5 May 2011 3:23 PM, PDT | Obsessed with Film | See recent Obsessed with Film news »
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
(Rob’s glowing review of 13 Assassins from the Venice Film Festival re-posted as the film begins limited U.K. theatrical run from today)
Takeshi Miike’s 13 Assassins, the second Japanese film shown in competition for this year’s Golden Lion (the other being the underwhelming Norwegian Wood), is a samurai epic in the mould of Akira Kurosawa. In fact, it borrows much from Seven Samurai. The recruiting of the men; the Toshiro Mifune-style comic rouge of lower class stock; the lashing rainfall; and the epic final encounter in a village. But the director of Dead or Alive (not that one) and Ichi the Killer is not a traditionalist or a respecter of the old guard, so it will come as no surprise to fans that there is an undercurrent of subversion and satire, especially during the film’s astounding finale.
The film departs from Seven Samurai »
- Robert Beames
Early Kurosawa
30 April 2011 4:09 PM, PDT | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »
(1943-47, PG, BFI)
The award of the Golden Lion at the 1951 Venice film festival to Rashomon and its subsequent release in Europe and America transformed the perception of Japan and Asian cinema and made Akira Kurosawa (1910-98) world-famous. But the director had been in the film business since 1936, and this important four-disc set, with an accompanying pamphlet by Philip Kemp, contains the six features he directed before the now celebrated Drunken Angel (1948), which began his partnership with Toshiro Mifune.
As Kemp points out, these novice works show him mastering his craft and developing some continuing themes such as the master-pupil relationship.
The four movies made during the second world war, including his debut, Sanshiro Sugata, an action picture about the growth of judo in the 1880s, and The Most Beautiful, a realistic study of factory life starring his future wife, Yōko Yaguchi, throw an interesting light on wartime propaganda.
The »
- Philip French
New Release: Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low Blu-ray
19 April 2011 10:30 PM, PDT | Disc Dish | See recent Disc Dish news »
The Criterion Collection will release the outstanding 1963 crime drama-thriller High and Low, by the legendary Japanese movie director Akira Kurosawa (Seven Samurai), on Blu-ray on July 26.
Toshiro Mifune makes a life or death decision in High and Low.
In the film, the great Toshiro Mifune (Rashomon) stars as Kingo Gondo, a wealthy industrialist whose family becomes the target of a cold-blooded kidnapper.
Adapting Ed McBain’s detective novel King’s Ransom, Kurosawa moves effortlessly from compelling race-against-time thriller to exacting social commentary in High and Low. A tense masterpiece, the movie wholly deserves its reputation as both a highly influential domestic drama and a trend-setting police procedural.
Presented in Japanese with English subtitles, High and Low was last issued on DVD by Criterion in 2008. That version is still available.
The Blu-ray, which carries a list price of $39.95, will contain the following features, all of which originally appeared on the Criterion DVD:
• High-definition digital restoration, »
- Laurence
July 2011 Criterion Collection Titles Announced!
15 April 2011 1:09 PM, PDT | CriterionCast | See recent CriterionCast news »
Note: I’ll be updating this page as Criterion makes the release dates and final art available. – Ryan 4/15/2011
Well here we are, another mid-month Criterion new release announcement. This time last year, we were treated to the incredible one-two punch announcement of Black Narcissus and the Red Shoes as upgraded DVD/Blu-ray editions. This time around we have even more to be excited about.
First up, a couple of films that we’ve actually already covered on the podcast will finally be getting Blu-ray upgrades. One of our very first episodes was on Mike Leigh’s Naked (a film that I wasn’t too hot on, but I loved Leigh’s Topsy Turvy). Now you’ll finally be able to see this incredibly daring and raw look at England in the early 90s, with David Thewlis as the immortal Johnny. I found the dialogue to be a little too rapid and not very naturalistic, »
- Ryan Gallagher
Tajomaru: Avenging Blade - DVD review
26 February 2011 4:24 AM, PST | 24framespersecond.net | See recent 24FramesPerSecond news »
Director: Hiroyuki Nakano. Review: Adam Wing. With a glimmering blade in hand, we head back to the forest for more swordplay shenanigans and epic romance. Loosely based on Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s short stories ‘Rashomon’ and ‘In A Grove’ (most famously adapted for the screen by Akira Kurosawa in 1950), Tajomaru stars Shun Oguri (Sukiyaki Western Django), Kyosuke Yabe (Samurai Zombie) and Hiroyuki Ikeuchi (Ip Man), available now on R2 DVD courtesy of Manga Entertainment. Two brothers, Naomitsu and Nobutsuna Hatakeyama, are born into a wealthy and powerful family and both destined for greatness. However, when the father of their lifelong friend dies, a decree is made that has a profound effect on all their lives. The conditions of the decree force Nobutsuna to betray his brother by taking Ako as his own in order to inherit her late father’s wealth and position. However, driven by his love for Ako, Naomitsu »
Tajomaru: Avenging Blade: DVD review
26 February 2011 4:24 AM, PST | 24framespersecond.net | See recent 24FramesPerSecond news »
Director: Hiroyuki Nakano. Review: Adam Wing. With a glimmering blade in hand, we head back to the forest for more swordplay shenanigans and epic romance. Loosely based on Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s short stories ‘Rashomon’ and ‘In A Grove’ (most famously adapted for the screen by Akira Kurosawa in 1950), Tajomaru stars Shun Oguri (Sukiyaki Western Django), Kyosuke Yabe (Samurai Zombie) and Hiroyuki Ikeuchi (Ip Man), available now on R2 DVD courtesy of Manga Entertainment. Two brothers, Naomitsu and Nobutsuna Hatakeyama, are born into a wealthy and powerful family and both destined for greatness. However, when the father of their lifelong friend dies, a decree is made that has a profound effect on all their lives. The conditions of the decree force Nobutsuna to betray his brother by taking Ako as his own in order to inherit her late father’s wealth and position. However, driven by his love for Ako, Naomitsu »
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