Guide Note

Filmmaker Akira Kurosawa was one of Japan's most heralded and praised directors. Making films for over five decades, he is generally credited with popularizing Japanese cinema in the western world.

Fast Facts

1. Born: March 23, 1910
2. Died: September 6, 1998
3. BAFTA Awards: 2
4. Notable Films: Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Ran
5. The Hidden Fortress inspired George Lucas when writing Star Wars

Kurosawa worked as an assistant director for Toho until he was able to produce his first film, Sanshiro Sugata. In the late 1940s, he rose to prominence in Japanese cinema with the contemporary crime tales Drunken Angel and Stray Dog.

In 1950, Kurosawa gained international fame with Rashomon, a film that tells the same story through four different characters. The film one the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and the equivalent of the Best Foreign Film award at the Oscars.

Kurosawa continued to make internationally recognized films until his death in 1998. Several of his films, including Seven Samurai and Yojimbo, were remade as Westerns, as Kurosawa samurai films frequently touched on the same themes and motifs as the American and Italian genre.

Kurosawa often used classical literature, including William Shakespeare, as the basis for some of his films. Throne of Blood is an adaptation of Macbeth, and Ran is a loose retelling of King Lear.