A Message from Akira Kurosawa: For Beautiful Movies (2000)

A Message from Akira Kurosawa: 

For Beautiful Movies (2000)

 

A documentary in 10 parts covering the film making of Kurosawa around the theme of making the perfect movie or as he says: A Beautiful Movie. 

Chapter 1 – The seed of a film
Chapter 2 - Screenplays
Chapter 3 - Storyboards
Chapter 4 - Filming
Chapter 5 - Lighting
Chapter 6 – Production design
Chapter 7 - Costumes
Chapter 8 - Editing
Chapter 9 - Music
Chapter 10 - Directing 

 

His entire life, Kurosawa pursued this question of - What is film?

He explains it like this...

" Directing encompasses the tasks of directing actors, filming, lighting, sound mixing, production design, music, editing and dubbing. However, no matter how you classify them...they really all blend into one...and to me its impossible to divorce any one from the whole. "

Kurosawa brought about revolutions in every aspect of directing.

- He was the first to ever aim the camera at the sun and by using a catch light he showed viewers the form of an ill, feverish girl.

- He has a playful heart, drawing in the shadow of a house, right on the ground.

- Also as an international director, he has shot an entire film in Russian.

- As an innovator, he created the archetype of the veteran-greenhorn detectives which is still used today in detective drama films.

- Also, his films have the highest remake rate by foreign filmmakers.

- He has played the largest role in introducing technology into film and took an interest in the state of movie theaters and film education.

- To Akira Kurosawa, directing was like life itself-multifaceted.

In other words, to Akira Kurosawa...directing was the creation of film itself.

 

" Directing...It seems to project every aspect of human nature itself. It is probably the field in which logical explanations have the least usefulness."

As Kurosawa would always say when asked about his directing strategies. It just naturally turned out that way. This was not a roundabout answer. It was what he truly believed.

If some of you watching now are thinking of directing first remember that it is more practice than theory.

As Akira Kurosawa would often say,

" Even if you can't shoot a film..you can still write the screenplay. From the experience you gain...challenging yourself each step of the way...and from the many memories you have accrued...I think you will find your own style that works best for the project at hand. "

Kurosawa said :

" I want to make films, beautiful films. I've been pursuing film for over 50 years...actually close to 60 years now, but I still feel that...I haven't fully grasped what film really is. I want people to feel joy from a spectacular film that I make...and I want people to fully enjoy the beauty of film. The thing I want to achieve most is to make beautiful films. In these films, I want to speak naturally about the things I think about...and have people all over the world understand them.

Films...through the medium of the screen, perform the special function of allowing people from around the world to share both the pain and joy of the characters on the screen, allowing us to understand one another.

I think that is the most wonderful part of films. And so I believe that through the beauty of film, we all need to experience...this mutual understanding. This concept of beauty, you see...is the same for everyone. And from that beauty...if we can all understand one another, this is where hearts and minds connect.

These are the things I'd like to make...and I will continue toward this goal. So in that sense...I'd like to make a film that someone tells me is beautiful, as a film...and is the most beautiful one I've ever made.

For me, that's the main thing.

So I don't aim to get across any message per se."

 

Akira Kurosawa

( 1910 - 1998 )