The Kurosawa Connection To Modern Cinema And Why He S So Influential

Akira Kurosawa inspired a generation of filmmakers across the world with films like Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, and The Hidden Fortress, unleashing the best aspects of Japanese film culture upon the cinematic arts. Many filmmakers inspired by his era, the Scorseses and Spielbergs of Hollywood fame, just to name a few, credit Kurosawa as one of the catalyzing forces behind their own cinematic careers as film directors, and many of the most famous American films ever made (Star Wars, we’re looking at you) carry his distinct signature on the very spirit of their frame. In modern times, Kurosawa continues to be an influential auteur of cinema, inspiring new generations of filmmakers eager to make an impact with their films much the same way he did. As one of the chief influencers of cinema, both past and present, here’s how Kurosawa continues to be a formidable influence on cinema now, and in the future.

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The One Who Inspires

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What do legendary, iconic films like Star Wars, The Magnificent Seven, and A Fistful of Dollars have in common? They’re all films inspired by a Kurosawa original. In a world of all-time greats, it’s Kurosawa who did the lions share of inspiring future filmmakers, despite the challenge of reaching American audiences as a foreign-shore director. His only Oscar nomination came in 1985, for his film Ran, a King Lear-inspired work. Kurosawa would later be given the Academy’s Honorary Award in 1990 for his contribution to cinema, finally recognizing the immense shadow he cast over decades of Hollywood adaptations that exhibited the spirit of his auteurist vision. Dreams, one of the last Kurosawa films, paired the legendary Japanese director with movie brat era savant, Martin Scorsese, who played Vincent van Gogh, and brought full circle the idea of the inspired meeting the divine.

His Adapted Works

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Coming up through the ranks of Japanese cinema, Kurosawa didn’t direct his first film until Sanshiro Sugata in 1943. Films like Rashomon, and Ikiru would begin to define his style of cinema, but it wasn’t until the Seven Samurai in 1954, that the Kurosawa name began to take on a different level of prestige. Widely considered the best film in the history of Japanese cinema, Seven Samurai would go onto inspire countless adaptations, from western genre epics, to kids fare of more recent decades, like Pixar’s A Bug’s Life. Yojimbo, one of Kurosawa’s finest films, would go on to be remade in Sergio Leone’s unofficial remake, A Fistful of Dollars, and George Lucas credits Kurosawa film, The Hidden Fortress as a direct source of inspiration for Star Wars: A New Hope.

The Language of Cinema

Developing a cinematic style that still resonates to this day, despite the technological limitations of the time, Kurosawas’ filmography is all the more impressive. Known for developing the frames and images of his films as paintings first, Kurosawa regarded the cinematic arts as a powerful combination of several classical art forms, using musical scores, imagery, and the theatrical tenets of drama to create cinematic masterpieces. His long collaboration with actor Toshiro Mifune spanned a total of 16 films, trumping the eight films that legendary director John Ford (a Kurosawa idol) shared with iconic American actor, John Wayne. Together, Kurosawa and Mifune created the quintessential mise en scéne of Japanese cinema, a universal style that Japanese Anime, Manga, and even videogames continue to exploit today.

Future Films Bearing His Influence

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In the decades after Kurosawa made his mark on world cinema, the major premises of his films would infiltrate the upper echelons of Hollywood filmmaking. Many of these works based on Kurosawa films remain uncredited, but, perhaps the most high-profile case remains Sergio Leone’s unofficial frame-by-frame remake of Yojimbo, presented to American audiences as A Fistful of Dollars. This led Japanese film company Toho Co., Ltd to sue the producers of ‘Dollars’ for royalties of the film’s international profits. The trend continues well into modern cinema, a span of seven decades and counting, with upcoming films like Rebel Moon, a Zack Snyder science fiction epic borrowing elements of Kurosawas’ Seven Samurai. Kurosawas’ sway over filmmakers of the past, present, and future is well documented, and his nearly omniscient cinematic vérité continues to inspire filmmakers around the world, marking him as one of the most influential directors of all-time.