The Kurosawa Project

Hey Tumblr, long time no see. We’re slowly making a come back here. In the meantime, here are some photos of Toshiro Mifune visiting the Dersu Uzala production in the Soviet Union. 

So the Riatlo reissue of “Ran” made the box office top 50 this weekend. That’s kinda cool! We at the Kurosawa Project missed it in theaters this time, but were lucky enough to have seen it on the big screen in 2014 with a Tatsuya Nakadai Q&A afterward. 

A very rare color photo from what appears to be the “Yojimbo” set. Looks like lunch time. AK at center in the brown coat. 

“Dersu Uzala” was shot in the Soviet Union over the course of a year, to get the full spectrum of weather in Sibera. According to accounts from the set, Kurosawa drank a bottle of vodka a day during filming. Maybe to keep himself warm?

“The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail” (1945) was started before the end of the war, finished after Japan surrendered, and not released until the early 50′s because SCAP banned portrayals of feudal Japan, fearing they would arouse feelings of allegiance to the Emperor and nostalgia for old ways in the Japanese public. 

Cineclub LuzSilente, a cinema club in Mexico City, made this awesome poster for “Throne of Blood” (1957). 

Terrible Infant up to their shenanigans again with this video of the final duel in Sanjuro set to Big Sean. 

Which is your favorite dream sequence? 

Takashi Shimura + Rick Ross = Boss

Buy the Zatoichi box set via Criterion. Seriously. It’s worth it. 

Yesterday we shared the opening credits of “The 400 Blows” as set to the opening music of “Throne of Blood.” Here’s the companion piece, the (slightly edited) opening of “Throne of Blood” set to the opening theme from “The 400 Blows.” You can check out a blog post about it here. 

So we swapped the opening audio tracks for “Throne of Blood” (1957) and “The 400 Blows” (1959). Here’s “The 400 Blows” opening - you can see both on this blog. 

Kurosawa before the burning castle, bull horn in hand, directing “Ran” (1985). I wrote a blog post for Terrible Infant on “Ran”, exploring the role of Buddhism in the film and arguing with Stephen Prince’s interpretation from his book “The Warrior’s Camera.” Check it out!

The founder of The Kurosawa Project is now involved in Terrible Infant, a film collective. He’s blogging on the Terrible Infant site about everything from Truffaut and Cuaron to the auteur theory and anti-establishment samurai films. Check out the Terrible Infant Facebook page for all the updates. 

Tarantino will also get his star in 2016, which feels appropriate, given his love of Japanese film. Read more about it.

Behind the scenes of “Red Beard” (1965). The film was shot over an entire calendar year (plus some) to take advantage of all natural weather conditions possible.  

Kurosawa was so distraught by the experience of working on “The Idiot” he nearly quit making films. The success of “Rashomon” at the Venice Film Festival - which came on the heels of the disaster of “The Idiot”; AK didn’t even know “Rashomon” played at Venice - changed his mind.