Comments on: Other Movies with Kurosawa’s Involvement

By: Vili Maunula

Vili Maunula — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:45:04 +0000

I didn’t know that the official Japanese release of Ame agaru film has English subtitles. But after following Lewis’s link it indeed turned out to be so. Thanks for the info, guys!

By the way, I find the final sequence in the film, and especially the way that it was edited together, simply brilliant.

My first impression of Runaway Train was identical to Andrew’s, but somehow it got better on repeated viewings. But I haven’t seen it for a while now, as I lost the tape.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 01:46:13 +0000

A few thoughts on other Kurosawa projects that I’ve seen:

- I bought a decent copy of ‘After the Rain’ on eBay. It’s a very satisfying homage to Kurosawa, without being completely derivative. I need to watch it again, when I have a chance.

- ‘Runaway Train,’ for me, was nearly unwatchable 1980’s action film cheese, despite some Kurosawan themes.

- I need to watch more Ichikawa, as besides ‘Dora Heita,’ I’ve only watched his stellar ‘Tokyo Olympiad.’ For what it’s worth, here are some brief comments I posted at another film discussion site several months ago:
“One can definitely see Kurosawa’s fingerprints all over the
story, as its lighthearted allegorical romp through Tokugawa-era
corruption is reminiscent of ‘Sanjuro.’

“A few flaws jumped out at me, nonetheless: 1)the bloodless swordfights
and punchouts lacked AK’s ethic of violence; 2) the sets seemed too
new, not lived-in (unlike, say, ‘Red Beard’; and 3) the low-key synthesizer soundtrack managed to be simultaneously bland, cheesy, and anachronistic.”

- I agree with Vili’s take on ‘The Sea is Watching’ and would love to watch it again.

By: Jeremy Quintanilla

Jeremy Quintanilla — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 21:37:10 +0000

I going to start looking into the movies you listed and see if there happens to be something out there, we are not aware of yet. I will be sure to let you know.

Thanks for the link Lewis

By: Lewis Saul

Lewis Saul — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:04:37 +0000

I bought it here.

By: Lewis Saul

Lewis Saul — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:00:22 +0000

I notice you don’t list a DVD for “After the Rain.”

I have it (w/subs) on DVD. I got it from either yes.asia or some other Asian outlet.

Shiro is good, but he’s nowhere near his dad.

Terao is excellent, as always.

A fine film.

By: Vili Maunula

Vili Maunula — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 07:25:44 +0000

I am quite sure that it isn’t possible to collect them all, but at least we are all in the same boat here. Do let me know if you manage to find something other than the four that currently have DVD cover images here.

Coming soon… a list of Kurosawa remakes. (Wait, did I already say that a year ago?)

By: Jeremy Quintanilla

Jeremy Quintanilla — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 01:31:26 +0000

Thanks for this part of the site, my next project is to collect all the films that Kurosawa was involved in. Although that will be one hell of a task, if its even possible.