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The Films of
Akira  Kurosawa  &  Toshirô  Mifune

links books Kurosawa/Mifune Films

Akira Kurosawa   [1910-98]
Akira Kurosawa credits at Internet Movie Database
Kurosawa posters catalog at AllPosters.com
Akira Kurosawa Page at Magic Lantern
Akira Kurosawa entry at Wikipedia

Toshirô Mifune   [1920-97]

Toshirô Mifune credits at Internet Movie Database
Mifune posters catalog at AllPosters.com
Toshirô Mifune entry at Wikipedia
B.F.I. Toshirô Mifune webpage

Other Links
Cinema of Japan Page at Magic Lantern
Samurai Films Page at Magic Lantern

Books  &  Video/DVD  Collections

	"The Emperor and the Wolf: The Lives & Films of Akira Kurosawa & Toshiro Mifune" [2002] by Stuart Galbraith IV Faber & Faber 8¾x5½ pb [2/2003] for $14.00 Faber & Faber 9.4x6½ hardcover [2/2002] for $28.00
	Four Samurai Classics Box Set [2002] Home Vision widescreen DVD [10/2002] 4 disks for $74.96 includes "Seven Samurai" [1954], "The Hidden Fortress" [1958], "Yojimbo" [1961], "Sanjuro" [1962] detail film information from IMDb below
	"The Films of Akira Kurosawa" [rev 1999] by Donald Richie & Joan Mellen Univ CA Press 9¾x10 pb [1/99] for $20.97
	"The Warrior's Camera" [1991] by Stephen Prince Princeton Univ Press 9¼x6 pb [10/99] for $16.95 Princeton Univ Press pb [2/91] out of print/used Princeton Univ Press hardcover [2/91] out of print/used

Kurosawa directed 16 films with Mifune as star [1948-1965]; in addition, "Saga of The Vagabonds"
[1959] was co-written by Kurosawa, directed by Toshio Sugie, and starred Mifune.

"Drunken Angel"  aka 'Yoidore tenshi'
[Japan April 1948; US release Jan 1960]

In a post-WWII slum, a doctor diagnoses TB in a young yakuza just before the former gang boss gets out of prison. Co-written & directed by Akira Kurosawa; starring Takashi Shimura, Toshirô Mifune, Michiyo Kogure, Chieko Nakakita, Noriko Sengoku, Eitarô Shindô & Reisaburo Yamamoto Home Vision b&w VHS [6/2000] for $19.95 full credits from IMDb

"Stray Dog"  aka 'Nora inu'
[Japan Oct 1949; US release Aug 1963]

Japanese film noir: A young Tokyo police detective loses his pistol to a pickpocket. Co-written & directed by Akira Kurosawa; starring Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura & Keiko Awaji Criterion b&w DVD [5/2004] for $35.99 Home Vision b&w VHS [6/2000] for $28.45 full credits from IMDb

"The Quiet Duel"  aka 'Shizukanaru ketto'
[Japan March 1949; US release Nov 1979]

A young doctor returns home after the war, having contracted syphillis while operating on a patient. Co-written & directed by Akira Kurosawa; based on a play by Kazuo Kikuta; starring Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Miki Sanjo, Kenjiro Uemura, Chieko Nakakita & Noriko Sengoku Brentwood b&w DVD [9/2006] for $18.98 full credits from IMDb

"Scandal"  aka 'Shubun'
[Japan April 1950; US release July 1964]

The chance encounter of a young painter and a famous singer is blown out of proportion by national tabloids. Co-written & directed by Akira Kurosawa; starring Toshirô Mifune, Shirley Yamaguchi, Yôko Katsuragi & Takashi Shimura Home Vision b&w VHS [6/2000] for $19.95 full credits from IMDb

"Rashômon"
[Japan Aug 1950; US release Dec 1951]

What is truth? After a killing in the woods, police interrogate four people and obtain four conflicting versions of the events. Co-written & directed by Akira Kurosawa; starring Toshirô Mifune, Machiko Kyô, Masayuki Mori, Takashi Shimura & Minoru Chiaki; won Honorary Oscar for Best Foreign-Language Film (1952) Home Vision b&w VHS [5/94] for $29.95 Home Vision b&w DVD [3/2002] for $29.96 full credits from IMDb • official movie site

"The Idiot"  aka 'Hakuchi'
[Japan May 1951; US release April 1963]

Following treatment for a mental breakdown, a young man becomes involved with two women, one of whom comes to love him. She in turn is loved by the violent Akama (played by Mifune). Co-written & directed by Akira Kurosawa; based on Dostoyevsky's novel; starring Setsuko Hara, Masayuki Mori, Toshirô Mifune & Yoshiko Kuga New Yorker Films b&w VHS [3/2001] for $19.95 full credits from IMDb

"Seven Samurai"  aka 'Shichinin no samurai'
[Japan April 1954; US release Nov 1956]

Now considered a classic movie. Poor farmers hire a samurai to defend their village from bandits. He brings along six others, who defend the village against 40 attackers in a climactic, epic battle. Co-written & directed by Akira Kurosawa; starring Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Yoshio Inaba, Minoru Chiaki, Daisuke Katô, Seiji Miyaguchi & Isao Kimura Criterion remastered b&w DVD [9/2006] 3 disks for $42.99 Home Vision b&w DVD [3/99] for $31.99 Home Vision b&w VHS [7/93] 2 tapes / out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia

more details (synopses, books, posters, links) on
Magic Lantern's "Seven Samurai" & "Magnificent Seven" Movies Page

"I Live In Fear"
aka 'Record of A Living Being' or 'Ikimono no kiroku'
[Japan Nov 1955; US release Jan 1967]

Mifune plays an industrialist riven with fear of the atomic bomb; his family wants him ruled incompetent for his irrational behavior. Co-written & directed by Akira Kurosawa; starring Toshirô Mifune & Takashi Shimura Home Vision b&w VHS [6/2000] for $19.95 full credits from IMDb

"Throne of Blood"
aka 'Kumonosu jo' or "Spider's Web Castle"
[Toho Japan Jan 1957; US release Nov 1961]

Based on Wm. Shakespeare's Macbeth. After a great military victory, two noble warriors are promoted by the emperor. Washizu's wife plots with him to take over the throne. Co-written & directed by Akira Kurosawa; starring Toshirô Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Minoru Chiaki & Takashi Shimura Home Vision b&w DVD [5/2003] for $29.66 Home Vision b&w VHS [2/99] for $29.95 full credits from IMDb

"The Lower Depths"  aka 'Donzoko'
[Japan Sept 1957; US release Feb 1962]

A den of beggars and thieves in ancient Japan includes two sisters in love with a thieving yakuza. Co-written & directed by Akira Kurosawa, based on Gorky's stageplay; starring Toshirô Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Kamatari Fujiwara & Kyôko Kagawa Home Vision b&w VHS [4/98] for $29.95 full credits from IMDb

"Hidden Fortress"
aka 'Kakushi toride no san akunin'
[Japan Dec 1958; US release Jan 1962]

Well-known to be one of the inspirations for the 'Star Wars Saga'. Gen. Makabe escorts a princess and a cache of gold thru enemy territory, assisted by two silly peasants. Co-written & directed by Akira Kurosawa; starring Toshirô Mifune, Misa Uehara, Susumu Fujita, Minoru Chiaki, Kamatari Fujiwara & Takashi Shimura Home Vision widescreen b&w VHS [2/99] for $29.95 Home Vision widescreen b&w DVD [5/2001] for $25.49 full credits from IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia

color remake "The Last Princess"
aka 'Kakushi toride no san akunin' [Toho/Dentsu/NTV May 2008]

Charmless remake that proves the rule: Don't mess with a classic. The dymanic of the characters is altered, Kurosawa's humor is absent, the film is mostly about the violence. Directed by Shinji Higuchi; starring pop idol Jun Matsumoto, Daisuke Miyagawa, Kippei Shiina, Masami Nagasawa & Hiroshi Abe color DVD [2008] out of prodn/scarce color DVD [2008] out of prodn/scarce full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia • official movie site {in Japanese}

"Saga of The Vagabonds"
aka 'Sengoku-gunto-den' [Japan 1959; US release Oct 1964]
Directed by Toshio Sugie; co-written by Akira Kurosawa;
starring Koji Tsuruta, Toshirô Mifune, Misa Uehara & Takashi Shimura
video not available; full credits from IMDb

"The Bad Sleep Well"
aka 'Warui yatsu hodo yoku nemuru'
[Toho Japan Sept 1960; US release Jan 1963]

A young man in post-war Japan attempts to expose the corrupt corporate executives responsible for his father's death. Co-written & directed by Akira Kurosawa; starring Toshirô Mifune, Masayuki Mori, Kamatari Fujiwara, Takeshi Katô, Kô Nishimura, Kyôko Kagawa, Takashi Shimura & Tatsuya Mihashi Criterion widescreen b&w DVD [1/2006] for $26.99 Homevision b&w VHS [9/2001] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb

"Yojimbo"  aka 'The Bodyguard'
[Japan April 1961; US release Oct 1962]

Based on Dashiell Hammett's 1929 novel "Red Harvest". A wandering samurai plays off two gangs against each other. Co-written & directed by Akira Kurosawa; starring Toshirô Mifune, Eijirô Tono, Seizaburô Kawazu, Kyu Sazanka, Kamatari Fujiwara, Takashi Shimura & Tatsuya Nakadai; listed on Time Magazine's All-TIME 100 Movies (10/2005) Home Vision widescreem b&w VHS [9/94] for $29.95 Home Vision widescreem b&w DVD [9/99] for $25.49 full credits from IMDb

remade as a Western: "A Fistful of Dollars" [1964]
movie & sequels on VHS & DVD • full credits from IMDb

remade as "Last Man Standing" [1996]
on VHS & DVD • full credits from IMDb

"Sanjuro"  aka 'Tsubaki Sanjûrô'
[Japan Jan 1962; US release May 1963]

A sequel to "Yojimbo"; a group of determined, idealistic young men enlist a scruffy, cynical samurai to clean up their town. Co-written & directed by Akira Kurosawa; starring Toshirô Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Takashi Shimura & Kamatari Fujiwara Criterion widescreen b&w DVD [1/2007] for $34.99 Home Vision letterbox b&w DVD [9/99] for $26.99 Home Vision widescreen b&w VHS [3/95] for $29.95 full credits from IMDb

"High and Low"  aka 'Tengoku to jigoku'
[Japan March 1963; US release Nov 1963]

A corporate executive learns that his son has been kidnapped for a huge ransom, and then that the kidnapper has mistakenly taken the son of his chauffeur. Co-written & directed by Akira Kurosawa; based on Ed McBain's 1959 novel "King's Ransom"; starring Toshirô Mifune, Kenjiro Ishiyama, Susumu Fujita, Kyôko Kagawa, Takeshi Kato, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yutaka Sada, Tsutomu Yamazaki & Takashi Shimura Home Vision letterbox b&w DVD [10/98] for $35.99 Home Vision widescreen b&w VHS [6/2000] for $28.45 full credits from IMDb

"Akahige"  aka 'Red Beard'
[Japan April 1965; US release Dec 1968]

An earnest exploration of duty, honor and compassion. Co-written & directed by Akira Kurosawa; starring Toshirô Mifune, Yuzo Kayama, Kyôko Kagawa, Yoshio Tsuchiya, Terumi Niki, Kamatari Fujiwara, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Yoshitaka Zushi & Takashi Shimura Home Vision widescreen b&w DVD [7/2002] for $35.99 Home Vision widescreen b&w VHS [2/99] for $29.95 full credits from IMDb 11"x17" Japanese-language poster available at AllPosters.com

Sadly, Kurosawa & Mifune had a falling out,
and did not work together again. (Each lived another 30 years).

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