• Kurosawa’s first film in five years since 1975’s Dersu Uzala – a three hour war epic

Kurosawa audaciously paints the sky red

  • Set in 16th century feudal Japan—this is not from Shakespeare (though if you aren’t familiar with his work it could probably fool you)—sort of Alexandre Dumas The Man in the Iron Mask in some ways, too

Set in 16th century feudal Japan—this is not from Shakespeare (though if you aren’t familiar with his work it could probably fool you)—sort of Alexandre Dumas The Man in the Iron Mask in some ways, too

  • A stunner at 15 minutes—the army in red uniforms posing in front of the castle
  • The sunrise shot at 21 minutes should be framed and put on a wall in an museum- a great painting

The sunrise shot at 21 minutes should be framed and put on a wall in an museum- a great painting

  • There is a shot at 58 minutes of the wood dividing and obstructing the frame- a shot that could easily be compared with a similarly gorgeous shot in Rashomon– some thirty years before- clearly the same auteur
  • These images here on the page are quite magnificent—but the film is 180 minutes long—and 165 of those could be shot on a stage in a small theater with relatively unremarkable cinema (though a great character study) playing out in front of the camera

these images here on the page are quite magnificent—but the film is 180 minutes long—and 165 of those could be shot on a stage in a small theater with relatively unremarkable cinema (though a great character study) playing out in front of the camera

  • At the 106 minute mark- there’s a great shot of the generals sitting in a circle with Tsutomu Yamazaki in his blue kimono
  • And that leads right into the justifiably famous nightmare impressionistic painting sequence. Marvelous—bold—Kurosawa just splashing paint on the canvas here

the justifiably famous nightmare impressionistic painting sequence. Marvelous—bold—Kurosawa just splashing paint on the canvas here

  • Again, most of the dialogue sequences are shot plainly—but there is one that impresses—at the 150 mark right after Tatsuya Nakadai falls off his horse, Kurosawa has this dazzling shot of the generals (in different color kimonos) facing out into the rain at the horse with the shoji doors making a frame within a frame.
  • The final 18 minutes or so is the massive battle/massacre. Hundreds of extras used here for scale. Kurosawa uses slow-motion, long stretches with montage and no dialogue.

Kurosawa’s first film in five years since 1975’s Dersu Uzala – a three hour war epic

  • Highly Recommend