There’s so much to be said for the work of Akira Kurosawa and yet rarely is there a forum given for his work to be compared to the greats of cinema history. Fortunately IMDB’s users have appropriately rated his most watched and most important film, Shichinin no Samurai (Seven Samurai) as the number nine film ...
The katana sword is the long sword worn by a samurai warrior. Samurai were the only people allowed to wear two swords in Japan, a short one between twelve and twenty four inches in length called the wakizashi and a long one, the katana. The katana is the sword we picture when we think of ...
Turner Classic Movies recently presented the classic film Rashomon, a Japanese psychological drama directed by Akira Kurosawa. The film is done in the Japanese language and has English subtitles. The word Rashomon means In the Woods which is the setting for this dynamic presentation. A college professor of mine once used the generic Rashomon to ...
The Meiji restoration had a deep impact on Japan. The restoration, besides restoring power to the Meiji emperor (which, in reality, it just transferred power from the Tokugawa shogun to the new oligarchy of the daimyo that defeated him) changed Japanese society. “The salient characteristic of Japan’s mid-nineteenth century transitional period is the demise of ...
We are rarely ever presented with situations that offer us a clear-cut or simple solution. Rather, in order to determine the truth behind any event, we must seek out all of the information and different versions of a story, which exist, putting together the “truth” based on our own opinions and the various versions, which ...
The Samurai. A group of powerful warriors that existed in Japan until the late 1800’s. In The Last Samurai, we learn about the positive characteristics of a Samurai. Respect for all of those you meet, even those who have wronged you. Compassion is an emotion which the Samurai humbly express. Finally, perhaps the most important ...
Takashi Miike, Japanese director of several cult and horror films such as “Ichi the Killer,” has taken an old samurai film, “Harakiri” by Masaki Kobayashi, and remade it in 3D. The film was already a cult classic. The popularity of samurai cinema has waned over the years, so this remake might help bring back the ...
The movie Last Samurai starring Tom Cruise and directed by Edward Zwick is a truly great film, a classic, and a must see for any movie go-er. The setting takes place in ancient Japan at a time when the samurai warriors controlled the country. However, the new Japanese leadership has taken over and instead want ...
