Akira Kurosawa Retrospective

Overview

One of the single greatest filmmakers in the history of the medium will get his due at The Astor over the next two weekends. The undisputed master of Japanese cinema, Akira Kurosawa shot a total of 30 motion pictures over his 57 year career, winning dozens of awards and influencing countless directors all around the world. Melbourne's favourite repertory theatre is highlighting two of his greatest masterpieces, made more than three full decades apart.

Released in 1954, Seven Samurai is frequently described as one of the best films of all time, and with good reason. A three and a half hour epic about a village beset by bandits and the warriors they recruit to protect them, the film inspired several American imitators, from The Magnificent Seven to A Bug's Life.

The tribute continues the following Sunday with Ran, Kurosawa's gargantuan adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear. So intent was Kurosawa on the film's completion that, when his wife of 39 years died midway through the shoot, production on the movie was halted for just a single day. Now that's commitment.