Oddstuff

Happy Mifune Monday!

1953’s Motion Picture Times included Toshiro Mifune in its Faces of Film.

The photo of Mifune is captioned:

Toshiro Mifune (actor)

Impressive. A brilliant selection.

It was Akira Kurosawa who truly "knew" this man—Toshiro Mifune. One might say, one man knew another. Kurosawa sent Mifune into the world with his own screenplay, "The End of the Silver Mountains," entrusted to his protégé, Senkichi Taniguchi, and then completely mastered him with "Drunken Angel." Mifune lived within the presence of this great director who knew him so well, while simultaneously being under his control.

Mifune's Zatopek-esque rise could be attributed to his talent, luck, or even sheer fortune. Of course, even today, when he's considered a great star, his acting ability is still far from being unquestionable. His nasal low voice still doesn't register on Japanese recording equipment. However, he has an oblivion that transcends these limitations. Behind the oblivion is humor. In other words, he's human. That's what Kurosawa recognized in him.

If you love someone else, and because of that we have to say goodbye today, I can give you up easier...

They say there's no such thing as a bad man. Only bad situations.