Akira Kurosawa Information

Biography

This biography is based on the one that I wrote for Wikipedia back in the summer of 2010. Since then, the Wikipedia article has been revised by other people, while I have updated the text for Akira Kurosawa info. The biography is a synthesis of the various books, documentaries and other information available about Kurosawa with sources for direct quotes indicated in the text.

• Part 1: Growing up (1910–1935)
• Part 2: Director in training (1935–1941)
• Part 3: Directorial debut, marriage and wartime works (1941–1945)
• Part 4: Son and immediate post-war works (1945–1950)
• Part 5: Daughter and international breakthrough (1950–1958)
• Part 6: Darker themes and move to widescreen (1955–1959)
• Part 7: New production company and the end of an era (1958–1965)
• Part 8: Unsuccessful Hollywood projects (1965–1969)
• Part 9: A difficult decade (1969–1978)
• Part 10: Comeback (1978–1986)
• Part 11: Final works and last years (1986-1998)
• Part 12: Death and posthumous works (1998-present)

Filmography

This section is undergoing a major expansion and revision. Stay tuned.

• Sanshiro Sugata (1943)
• The Most Beautiful (1944)
• Sanshiro Sugata Part II (1945)
• The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail (1945)
• No Regrets for Our Youth (1946)
• One Wonderful Sunday (1947)
• Drunken Angel (1948)
• The Quiet Duel (1949)
• Stray Dog (1949)
• Scandal (1950)
• Rashomon (1950)
• The Idiot (1951)
• Ikiru (1952)
• Seven Samurai (1954)
• Record of a Living Being (1955)
• Throne of Blood (1957)
• The Lower Depths (1957)
• The Hidden Fortress (1958)
• The Bad Sleep Well (1960)
• Yojimbo (1961)
• Sanjuro (1962)
• High and Low (1963)
• Red Beard (1965)
• Dodesukaden (1970)
• Song of the Horse (1971)
• Dersu Uzala (1975)
• Kagemusha (1980)
• Ran (1985)
• Dreams (1990)
• Rhapsody in August (1991)
• Madadayo (1993)

• Other films with Kurosawa’s input

Other Works by Kurosawa

• Theatre and radio
• Paintings and drawings

Related Works by Others

• Remakes and films influenced by Kurosawa’s works
• Documentaries on Akira Kurosawa