Akira Kurosawa and modern Japan
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Akira Kurosawa and modern Japan
McFarland, c2022
- pbk.
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 239-245) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
The samurai films of legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa are set in the past, but they tell us much about the present, as do his crime stories, romances, military films, medical dramas and art films. His movies are beloved for their ageless protagonists and haunting vistas of old Japan, but we haven't yet fully grasped everything they can teach us about modern Japan. This detailed study of all 30 of Kurosawa's films analyzes the links between the thrilling narratives onscreen and the equally remarkable events that occurred in Japan over his long, productive career.
Kurosawa's films evolved as Japan redefined and reinvented itself, from films made for Japan's wartime regime to those made amid the trials of American occupation. Could we change that sentence to the following?: Kurosawa's films also include lavish epics from the "economic miracle" years and searching masterpieces he made with international assistance. This book explores how Kurosawa's classics depict the political, economic, cultural, sexual and environmental upheavals of a nation at the center of a turbulent century, whether directly or through period-piece mythmaking.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
On Names, Transliteration, Titles, and How to Read This Book
Introduction: Kurosawa and the Japanese Century
Part One. The War Years
Chapter 1. Sanshiro Sugata
Chapter 2. The Most Beautiful
Chapter 3. Sanshiro Sugata Part II
Part Two. The Occupation Years
Chapter 4. The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail
Chapter 5. No Regrets for Our Youth
Chapter 6. One Wonderful Sunday
Chapter 7. Drunken Angel
Chapter 8. The Quiet Duel
Chapter 9. Stray Dog
Chapter 10. Scandal
Chapter 11. Rashomon
Chapter 12. The Idiot
Chapter 13. Ikiru
Part Three. The Miracle Years
Chapter 14. Seven Samurai
Chapter 15. Record of Living Things
Chapter 16. Spiderweb Castle
Chapter 17. The Lower Depths
Chapter 18. The Hidden Fortress
Chapter 19. The Bad Sleep Well
Chapter 20. Yojimbo
Chapter 21. Tsubaki Sanjuro
Chapter 22. Heaven and Hell
Chapter 23. Redbeard
Part Four. The Global Years
Chapter 24. Dodesukaden
Chapter 25. Dersu Uzala
Chapter 26. Kagemusha
Chapter 27. Ran
Chapter 28. Dreams
Chapter 29. Rhapsody in August
Chapter 30. Madadayo
Epilogue
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index
by "Nielsen BookData"
