rapidshare links
Kakushi-toride no san-akunin (The Hidden Fortress) (1958) – Akira Kurosawa
The story follows two greedy peasants in feudal Japan, Tahei and Matashichi (Minoru Chiaki and Kamatari Fujiwara), who are returning home from a failed attempt to profit from a war between neighboring clans. En Route they encounter the remnants of the defeated tribe that [...]
Warui yatsu hodo yoku nemuru (The Bad Sleep Well ) (1960) – Akira Kurosawa
This version is ripped straight from the Criterion Collection dvd, as pictured. Included is the film, trailer, and a 33-minute documentary about the making of the movie which includes interviews with Kurosawa and other members of the cast and crew. [...]
Ame Agaru : After The Rain (1999) – Kurosawa
Shortly before his death in 1998, Akira Kurosawa completed a screenplay entitled Ame Agaru, based on a short story by Shugoro Yamamoto. Kurosawa passed on before he could bring this story to the screen, but one of his assistants, Takashi Koizumi, [...]
Hakuchi (The Idiot) (1951) – Akira Kurosawa
A great admirer of Russian literature (he would also go on to make a film of Gorky’s ‘The Lower Depths’), Akira Kurosawa found a particular affinity with Fyodor Dostoevsky and with his novel The Idiot in particular. Kurosawa wanted to be as faithful as possible to the [...]
In: Akira Kurosawa| japan| japan cinema
24 Apr 2009Tengoku to jigoku High and Low
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Genre: Thriller / Drama
An executive mortgages all he owns to stage a coup and gain control of the National Shoe Company, with the intent of keeping the company out of the hands of incompetent and greedy executives. He needs the same money, though, to pay the [...]
In: Akira Kurosawa| japan| japan cinema
24 Apr 2009One of the most celebrated screen adaptations of Shakespeare into film, Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood re-imagines Macbeth in feudal Japan. Starring Kurosawa’s longtime collaborator Toshiro Mifune and the legendary Isuzu Yamada as his ruthless wife, the film tells of a valiant warrior’s savage rise to power and his ignominious fall. With Throne [...]
In: Akira Kurosawa| japan| japan cinema
24 Apr 2009Considering this is the first collaboration between one of the ‘heavyweight’ director/star combos in cinema (tops in the Japanese film world, probably their equal to America’s Scorsese/De Niro), this is quite a powerhouse of drama. That’s not to say it’s a completely dour film- some of Akira Kurosawa’s trademark ironic (and subtle) humor [...]
In: Akira Kurosawa| japan| japan cinema
24 Apr 2009The earliest bits – detailing Kurosawa’s youth and family were most appealing (in spite of the re-enactments); about 1/3 of the way in this documentary really loses steam, offering few insights into Kurosawa’s work – with some shocking omissions: STRAY DOG, THE IDIOT, BAD SLEEP WELL, LOWER DEPTHS, HIDDEN FORTRESS and HIGH & [...]
In: Pedro Almodovar| spain| spanish
24 Apr 2009After being raped by a policeman, Pepi vows revenge, persuading her friends to beat him up. However, they mistakenly attack the policeman’s twin brother and so Pepi tries again, persuading his masochistic wife, Luci, to leave him for teenager punk singer Bom, from Bom y Toni Group. The three of them explore the [...]
In: Pedro Almodovar| spain| spanish
24 Apr 2009Pizza delivery man Victor is having an argument with Elena, whom he met a few days ago, but she was high then and doesn’t want to hear about him. Reacting to the noise, two cops, young David and older Sancho, arrive at the scene, the gun accidentally goes off.. Four years later David [...]