Andrei Konchalovsky argued with Kurosawa about Lenin

This quote could do with a little more information (maybe we should contact the author of the article?), but apparently Andrei Konchalovksy, the Russian film maker who among other things directed Runaway Train, at one point got into a “fight” with Kurosawa. Not about Runaway Train though, but about Lenin:

To talk at any length to Konchalovsky is to hear disquisitions on the history of cinema — and hear war stories populated by a who’s-who of 20th century filmmakers. A passing reference to “Runaway Train” leads to a story about how he got into a fight with Akira Kurosawa at the Japanese auteur’s house while Kurosawa was cutting sushi. (The two argued about the morality of Lenin.)

You can find the article at KSPR.com. The quote comes from the penultimate paragraph.

Konchalovsky talked about it himself on the Kurosawa: The Last Emperor documentary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUokoAX9_Zw#t=3m29s

Thanks for the link Blah (and the jump to the correct position in the video is much appreciated)! I completely forgot about this documentary. The article must have used it as the source as well.

Not really related, but Konchalovsky has a new film out, which has attracted almost universally scornful reviews.

A pity, I don’t know much about his films, but I loved Runaway Train – and I wasn’t aware until recently that it was based on a Kurosawa script.

Thanks very much for the link to the documentary on Kurosawa, Blah. It’s just the right moment and the right material for me…I was missing Kurosawa.