Biography
Akira Kurosawa (黒澤 明) was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. He displayed a bold, dynamic style, strongly influenced by Western cinema yet distinct from it; he was involved with all aspects of film production. Kurosawa entered the Japanese film industry in 1936, following a brief stint as a painter. After years of working on numerous films as an assistant director and scriptwriter, he made his debut as a director during World War II with the popular action film Sanshiro Sugata (1943). After the war, the critically acclaimed Drunken Angel (1948), in which Kurosawa cast the then little-known actor Toshiro Mifune in a starring role, cemented the director's reputation as one of the most important young filmmakers in Japan. The two men would go on to collaborate on another fifteen films. Rashomon (1950), which premiered in Tokyo, became the surprise winner of the Golden Lion at the 1951 Venice Film Festival. The commercial and critical success of that film opened up Western film markets for the first time to the products o…
Directed
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Seven Samurai (1954) — Director
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Rashomon (1950) — Director
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Ran (1985) — Director
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Yojimbo (1961) — Director
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Ikiru (1952) — Director
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High and Low (1963) — Director
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Throne of Blood (1957) — Director
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Kagemusha (1980) — Director
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Sanjuro (1962) — Director
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The Hidden Fortress (1958) — Director
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Dersu Uzala (1975) — Director
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Dreams (1990) — Director
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Red Beard (1965) — Director
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Stray Dog (1949) — Director
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Drunken Angel (1948) — Director
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The Bad Sleep Well (1960) — Director
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Dodes'ka-den (1970) — Director
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Rhapsody in August (1991) — Director
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Sanshiro Sugata (1943) — Director
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The Lower Depths (1957) — Director
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Madadayo (1993) — Director
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The Idiot (1951) — Director
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I Live in Fear (1955) — Director
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The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1952) — Director
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Scandal (1950) — Director
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One Wonderful Sunday (1947) — Director
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The Quiet Duel (1949) — Director
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No Regrets for Our Youth (1946) — Director
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Sanshiro Sugata, Part Two (1945) — Director
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The Most Beautiful (1944) — Director
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Song of the Horse (1970) — Director
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Those Who Make Tomorrow (1946) — Director
Also appeared in
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A. K. (1985) — Self
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What Is Cinema? (2013) — Self
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Babenco: Tell Me When I Die (2020) — Self (archive footage)
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Kurosawa's Way (2011) — Self (archive footage)
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A Message from Akira Kurosawa: For Beautiful Movies (2000) — Self
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Kurosawa: The Last Emperor (1999)
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Kurosawa (2000) — Self
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Akira Kurosawa: My Life in Cinema (1993) — Self
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Making of 'Dreams' (1990) — Self
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Spécial cinéma (1974) — Self
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Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'The Hidden Fortress' (2002) — Self
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Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Kagemusha' (2002) — Self
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Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Seven Samurai' (2002) — Self
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In Love With and Living Within Movies - Akira Kurosawa and Hayao Miyazaki (1993) — Self
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Morceaux de Cannes (2021)
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Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Ran' (2002) — Self
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Making of Ran (1985) — Self
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Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Throne of Blood' (2002) — Self
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Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'The Lower Depths' (2002) — Self
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Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Yojimbo' (2002) — Self
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Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Sanjuro' (2002) — Self
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Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'High and Low' (2002) — Self
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Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Dodes'ka-den' (2002) — Self
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Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'The Bad Sleep Well' (2002) — Self
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Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Stray Dog' (2002) — Self
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Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Drunken Angel' (2002) — Self
- The World of Kazuo Miyagawa (2012) — Self
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Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Ikiru' (2002) — Self
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Searching For Kurosawa (2025)
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Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Red Beard' (2002) — Self