Akira Kurosawa's Film Analysis

The world changed massively after World War 2. The globe was under a massive amount of strain and distress. At this point in American history, films were a essential part in keeping society’s spirits up. Americans were going to the cinemas more than ever to get away from the depression that was surrounding them. The world was in some of the darkest times they had ever been in. This brought a whole new look into how we perceived film, and how we used film to express what we were feeling. The world had a new view on life during the 1940’s. This meant that the content that was produced would be changed. New themes began to surface, types of film that had never been seen before arose such as, Neo-Realism, Film Noir, and the French New Wave. Instead …show more content…
One of the most iconic Japanese directors of the era was Akira Kurosawa who is most likely one of the most influential directors of all time. Many of Kurosawa’s most revered films where based in medieval Japan, and normally involving a Samurai. Kurosawa’s films have a very interesting style about them that makes them very easy to watch. The films tend to have a stage acting style more than a film acting style, that uses exaggerated motions and features that rarely are effective in film but tend to be very much a strong suit for Kurosawa’s films. In 1980 Kurosawa made the film Kagemusha, meaning in Japanese political decoy. This film takes place in medieval Japan, where two samurai armies are doing battle. One leader decides he needs a double, a man who looks like him, to take his place if he is to die because his appearance is very integral to his army’s success. The leader dies, the double takes his place and tricks everyone into believing that the leader is not dead. The double gets revealed and exiled, the army goes of to war and dies, and the double shows that he actually cares for the cause by dying trying to redisplay the army’s …show more content…
Rashomon, another film by Kurosawa, shares many characteristics that can be seen in Kagemusha, other than the fact that they both contain samurai. One of the most easily seen aspects that is in both films, is the stage-play like acting. The characters make their emotions and gestures very easily grasped visually by body language. Kurosawa also spent much of the film shooting the characters fairly close up. Kurosawa used the exaggeration of these actors very expertly with their facial features and expressions to give the characters life and emotion. He also set the scene in each movie with ambient film of the surroundings while displaying a story through text on the screen, guiding the audience into the film. Kurosawa ability to keep the camera moving is also seen in both of these films. He uses expert cinematography to give the films life, especially his use of tracking shots (Cook). Kurosawa’s use of exaggerated acting, attention to facial expression, and cinematography are only a few of his strong points of his films. His excellent understanding of film and how to manipulate it is why he is one of the most revered directors to this