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Title: Something Like An Autobiography by Akira Kurosawa ISBN: 0-394-71439-3 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 12 May, 1983 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.88 (8 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The Memoirs of the Legendary "General" of Film-Making
Comment: Puts under the magnifying lens the life of a man with the single-mindedness and honesty to derive perfection out of a single art--the art of directing. Akira Kurosawa presents a candid side of himself and of the personal events that helped shape his career, from early on when he begins an appreciation for the arts & literature, to the point when he finally gets his "break" and starts film-making.
This is NOT a book about film-making, however, nor is it a collective analysis of the films he makes throughout his career, although there are many references to his early work. What is key to this work is Kurosawa's stream of consciousness. His book is a study in introspection and the different factors that weigh on a director's mind as he makes a film. For a would-be director, or an aspiring one, this is an inside-look at how a legendary director produces masterful work, and it is told with such simplicity, such attention to detail and personal sincerity that it equates to the feeling of reading someone's diary or personal memoirs reflecting on the times he felt were deeply affecting.
Through his work, Kurosawa proves himself a man of human insight, of penetrating power into what drives actors and assistant directors alike and bringing out the best of each to produce works of perfection. In the end, Kurosawa defines exactly what it means to direct; to have "insight" into each of the elements that produce a film, from the script-making, to the lighting crews, to the acting, to the camerawork, to the shooting and editing itself, the director is actively involved and the ability to command such forces is likened very appropriately to that of an army general. At the heart of it all, the director is a general, whose ability to bring out the very best out of each of his "soldiers" is what leads his army on to victory. Kurosawa's legendary track-record has proven him a first-rate general of the highest class. This was a real treat to read--Thank You, Kurosawa.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Must-Read for Kurosawa Fans
Comment: True, this book covers only the period up to Rashomon, the film which made Kurosawa a world-famous director and made the rest of the world aware finally of Japanese films, but, as Kurosawa himself says, after Rashomon it is the films not his life which is important. That, of course, is not completely true, and readers anxious for more should also read the excellent joint biography of Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune, "The Emperor and the Wolf" by Stuart Galbraith IV (Faber and Faber, 2001). But Kurosawa's "autobiography," despite its truncated nature, is fascinating.
This book is practically the only source of information on Kurosawa's early life, and it is, in fact, the principal source for that period of his life in Galbraith's book. Readers will also appreciate the list of films which Kurosawa watched early in life and which influenced him as a film maker.
Kurosawa's "autobiography" has a light touch which is very ingratiating, and when he recounts some of the more distressing events of his childhood and adolescence, especially the suicide of his older brother, he simply breaks our hearts.
There are (at least) two excellent critical studies of Kurosawa's films: (1) "The Warrior's Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa" by Stephen Price, Princeton University Press, 1999; and (2) "The Films of Akira Kurosawa" by Donald Ritchie, University of California Press, 1998. Ritchie has also written the canonical work on Japanese Film: "A Hundred Years of Japanese Film," Kodansha International, 2001.
Kurosawa's greatest film is universally acknowledged to be "The Seven Samurai" (1954). Many consider it to be the greatest film ever made. There is a masterful study of this film by Joan Mellen (who added some material to Ritchie's Kurosawa volume) and published by the British Film Institute (2002). "The Seven Samurai" was remade twice in English, first by John Sturges (1960) as "The Magnificent Seven" (the original title for the release of the Japanese film in the US), and later by John Lattimer (Pixar, 1998) as "a bug's life." This writer (obviously in the minority) finds the former a poor copy and the latter a minor masterpiece, which surely would have delighted the "emperor" himself.
Rating: 5
Summary: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Comment: Something Like an Autobiography
by Akira Kurosawa
translated by Audie E. Bock
It seems obvious that this book is the first to turn to for admirers of Kurosawa's films who seek to know more about the legendary director's influences and ideas. This is the primary source in English for information about Kurosawa's early life and career, and all the film studies and biographies in print (including dvd commentary tracks and the recent documentary film) draw heavily on it.
It's an excellent book, ably translated by Audie E. Bock. Bock was Kurosawa's English translator and assistant for many years, and incidentally, has provided some of the better English subtitle translations of his films. Her translation of his text here is clear and direct.
In addition to being a great director, Kurosawa was a great scriptwriter, and he tells his own story in fine style through brief episodes that are replete with visual imagery (perhaps to be expected from a filmmaker). His recollection of his childhood is particularly revealing: of the turmoil and sweeping changes in early 20th century Japan, as well as the personal experiences and events that shaped the man he was to become.
Kurosawa recounts his story through his early career at Toho and Daiei up to the Venice Film Festival's award of the Grand Prix medal to Rashomon (1950). His decision not to proceed further is perhaps the book's only major disappointment, as Kurosawa was to live until 1998 and make many great films that are not discussed in the book.
Something Like an Autobiography will hold great appeal to any reader with an interest in 20th century Japanese culture in general, and is simply required reading for those seeking a deeper understanding of the Master's films.
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Title: The Films of Akira Kurosawa by Donald Richie, Joan Mellen ISBN: 0520220374 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: January, 1999 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title:Ikiru - Criterion Collection ASIN: B00005JLMU Publisher: Criterion Collection Pub. Date: 06 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $39.95 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $29.96 |
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Title: The Emperor and the Wolf: The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune by Stuart Galbraith, Stuart Galbraith IV ISBN: 0571211526 Publisher: Faber & Faber Pub. Date: 01 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: The Warrior's Camera by Stephen Prince ISBN: 0691010463 Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr Pub. Date: 25 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title:Akira Kurosawa's Dreams ASIN: B00007G1ZC Publisher: Warner Home Video Pub. Date: 18 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $14.99 |
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