Kurosawa Quotes

(on how he decided to do Per un pugno di dollari (1964)) I`d done "Rawhide" (1959) for about five years. The agency called and asked if I was interested in doing a western in Italy and Spain. I said, "Not particularly." They said, "Why don`t you give the script a quick look?" Well, I was kind of curious, so I read it, and I recognized it right away as Yojimbo (1961), a Kurosawa (Akira Kurosawa) film I had liked a lot. Over I went, taking the poncho with me - yeah the cape was my idea.

I was 18 when I saw Akira Kurosawa`s Shichinin no samurai (1954). After about 30 seconds, I realized that this was not just a cultural thing, it was universal. Years later, I read Bushido. It talked about many things that I strive for in my own life: loyalty, compassion, responsibility, the idea of looking back on your life and taking responsibility for everything you`ve ever done. I`m fascinated by the samurai and the samurai code - it`s one of the main reasons I wanted to make The Last Samurai (2003).

Most directors have one masterpiece by which they are known, or possibly two. Kurosawa has at least eight or nine. - on Akira Kurosawa

The term `giant` is used too often to describe artists. But in the case of Akira Kurosawa, we have one of the rare instances where the term fits.

The person that probably stopped me in my tracks as a child - because I used to love to go to the cinema - was David Lean with Great Expectations (1946). I thought everything was somehow better than most of the other movies in terms of the way it looked - the way it was dramatised and the way it was photographed. In fact he was detailed from corner to corner and that is what I picked up with John Ford and then Kurosawa (Akira Kurosawa) - then Carol Reed, Michael Powell - those were all the fundamental characters at that time - and Orson Welles of course. There are Frenchmen too of course who will be remembered as well but I wasn`t open to the French cinema at that point - so it was American and English film directors - so those were the influences.

I was just a poor student. I had no interest in it. When I make a film the tacit contract with the audience is that I will give them some entertainment and not bore them. I have to do that. I just lay a message on them. Great filmmakers, like Ingmar Bergman or Akira Kurosawa or Federico Fellini, they`re very entertaining, their films are fun. Well, in college they never made it entertaining for me, they just bored me stiff.

The directors I would have loved to have seen were Kurosawa or Leone - I would have loved being on their set to see how they worked.

Being a kid growing up with Kurosawa films and watching Sergio Leone movies just made me love what it could do to you, and how it could influence you - make you dream.

I think he is the greatest example of all that an author of the cinema should be. I feel a fraternal affinity with his way of telling a story. - on Akira Kurosawa

The movies that made me want to make movies were action movies, and thrillers, and Kurosawa films, you know, where you have an opportunity every day to shoot it in an unusual way. I was looking for something like that.

I was influenced by European movies, old Fellini, old Kurosawa - any sort of foreign film.

I was in Japan, and my assistant director had worked with Kurosawa. I used quite of number of Kurosawa`s crew.

I want to be able to make westerns like (Akira Kurosawa) makes westerns.

Hero (2002) was the first time I had ever worked on a mainland Chinese production. It was great to work with such a good cast that included Maggie, Jet Li, Chen Daoming, and Zhang Ziyi. I was particularly excited to work with Yimou, a director whose work I have always admired. When I first heard the story, I thought of Kurosawa`s Rashomon (1950). At that time, Yimou gave me a choice of playing the narrator, like Leslie Cheung did in Ashes of Time (1994). In the end, I did what Yimou wanted and played Broken Sword, who is the lover of Flying Snow, played by Maggie. Because I have a baby face, I was quite concerned about my looks in this film because I was to play a martial arts hero. I did not want to look unconvincing. I spent a lot of time working with Emi Wada, who designed all the film`s costumes, on the look of my character, as the wardrobe was very important to play this heroic figure living in ancient China.(On working with Zhang Yimou in the movie, Hero)

People talk about my signature. But I ask them if they ever saw Howard Hawks` films. They`re filled with overlapping dialog. Everything I`ve learned has come from watching other directors: Bergman (Ingmar Bergman, Fellini [Federico Fellini), Kurosawa (Akira Kurosawa), Huston (John Huston) and Renoir (Jean Renoir).