In commemoration of the 100th Birth Anniversary of renowned Japanese film director and screenwriter Akira Kurosawa this year, the Japan Foundation, Manila, in cooperation with the Cultural Center of the Philippines and UP Film Institute proudly presents twenty-one (21) films from his award-winning collections this September.
In commemoration of the 100th Birth Anniversary of renowned Japanese film director and screenwriter Akira Kurosawa this year, the Japan Foundation, Manila, in cooperation with the Cultural Center of the Philippines and UP Film Institute proudly presents twenty-one (21) films from his award-winning collections this September.
In commemoration of the 100th Birth Anniversary of renowned Japanese film director and screenwriter Akira Kurosawa this year, the Japan Foundation, Manila, in cooperation with the Cultural Center of the Philippines and UP Film Institute proudly presents twenty-one (21) films from his award-winning collections this September.
Cultural Center of the Philippines UP Film Institute
Screening Date Time Title (English) Screening Date Time Title (English) 14-Sep-10 7:00pm Throne of Blood 22-Sep-10 1:00pm Sugata Sanshiro 15-Sep-10 10:00am The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail 4:30pm To Live (Ikiru) 1:00pm The Bad Sleep Well 7:00pm The Bad Sleep Well 4:30pm To Live (Ikiru) 7:00pm Sugata Sanshiro 23-Sep-10 1:00pm High and Low 4:30pm The Hidden Fortress 16-Sep-10 10:00am The Most Beautiful 7:00pm No Regrets for Our Youth 1:00pm High and Low 4:30pm The Hidden Fortress 24-Sep-10 1:00pm Yojinbo (a.k.a. The Bodyguard) 7:00pm Drunken Angel 25-Sep-10 1:00pm Seven Samurai 17-Sep-10 10:00am Sanjuro 4:30pm Rashomon 1:00pm Red Beard 7:00pm One Wonderful Sunday 4:30pm Stray Dog 7:00pm Rashomon 27-Sep-10 1:00pm The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail 4:30pm The Lower Depths 18-Sep-10 10:00am No Regrets for Our Youth 7:00pm Sanjuro 1:00pm Seven Samurai 4:30pm Yojinbo (a.k.a. The Bodyguard) 28-Sep-10 1:00pm Red Beard 7:00pm Sugata Sanshiro Part II 4:30pm Sugata Sanshiro Part II 7:00pm Stray Dog 19-Sep-10 10:00am One Wonderful Sunday 1:00pm Dodes’kaden 29-Sep-10 1:00pm Dodes’kaden 4:30pm The Lower Depths 4:30pm The Most Beautiful 7:00pm I Live in Fear 7:00pm Drunken Angel
30-Sep-10 4:30pm Throne of Blood 7:00pm I Live in Fear ILL is a prolific and multi- S W N IN awarded Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor whose career F I L M OW L H A spanned 57 years with about 30 films to his credit as director. He entered the B E SR I G I N AT O ORM Japanese film industry in 1936, following a brief, unsuccessful career as a painter. MF He made his directorial debut during the Second World War with the popular 35M action film, Sugata Sanshiro (a.k.a. Judo Saga, 1943). After the war, the critically acclaimed Drunken Angel (1948), in which Kurosawa cast then-unknown actor Toshirō Mifune in a starring role. His film, Rashomon, which premiered in Tokyo on August 25, 1950, and which also starred Mifune, became the surprise winner of the 1951 Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival. In 1990, he received the Academy Lifetime Achievement Award for his accomplishments that have inspired delighted, enriched and entertained audiences and influenced filmmakers throughout the world. Posthumously, he was named “Asian of the Century” in the category of Arts, Literature, and Culture by American Asian Week The Japan Foundation, Manila (JFM) magazine and CNN, cited as – “One of the [five] people who contributed most located at the 12th Floor, Pacific Star Building to the betterment of Asia in the past 100 years. Kurosawa died of a stroke in Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue, cor. Makati Avenue, Makati City 1226 Setagaya, Tokyo, at age 88. with telephone numbers (632) 811-6155 to 58 fax number (632) 811-6153, and email address at email@jfmo.org.ph. in cooperation with “Throne of Blood” Synopsis: It is based on the novel by Tsuneo pull himself together long enough to save the I Live In Fear rebuild the princess’s military to one day “High and Low” (Kumonosu-jō) Tomita. Judo Saga Part 2 was filmed in early life of young hoodlum Toshiro Mifune. The (Ikimono no retake her land and rebuild her realm. (Tengoku to B&W / 1957 / 110 min. 1945 in Japan towards the end of World War II. doctor feels that, by saving the hoodlum, he is Kiroku) Jigoku) In the 1880’s, a martial arts student continues retrieving a portion of his own lost youth and B&W / 1955 / 113 “The Bad Partially Color / Synopsis: The film his quest to become a Judo master, from that idealism. In this film, Kurosawa exposed the min. Sleep Well “ 1963 / 143 min. transposes the plot of discipline’s founder. Eventually, he learns seamy underworld of Japanese society and (Warui Yatsu Hodo William Shakespeare’s enough to demonstrate his skill in a boxing their fight against tuberculosis. Synopsis: Kiichi Yoku Nemuru) B&W Synopsis: Based play Macbeth to match between American and Japanese Nakajima (Toshirō / 1960 / 151 min. on King’s Ransom, medieval Japan. Coming from a great victory fighters and then finds himself the target of a “Stray Dog” Mifune), an elderly foundry owner an “87th Precinct” novel by Ed McBain, after defeating the lord’s enemies, Mikio and revenge mission undertaken by the brothers of (Nora Inu) convinced that Japan will be affected by an Synopsis: In this the film narrates a modern noir about the Washizu are invited to visit their lord in his castle. the original film’s villain. B&W / 1949 / 122 imminent nuclear war, resolves to move his engaging drama, dilemma of a wealthy industrialist’s crisis On their way, they meet a spirit, who foretells min. family to safety in Brazil. His family decides acclaimed Japanese director Akira Kurosawa after putting up a ransom for a kidnapped their future and predicts great things with “The Men Who Tread to have him ruled as incompetent; they deftly splices together the nuances of boy he thought was his son, wherein the their descendants. Driven by his wife, Washizu On the Tiger’s Tail” Synopsis: The are fearful about the loss of the family’s hypocrisy, old feudal misconceptions kidnappers mistakenly snatched the son murders the lord and eventually becomes the (Tora no o wo Fumu setting for this Akira fortune. Nakajima’s ardent wish gained Dr. lingering in modern corruption, and of his driver. As a man forced to make successor of the castle, but his evil deeds haunt Otokotachi) Kurosawa film noir Harada (Takashi Shimura) sympathy as he Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The rotten corporate impossible decisions, he must decide him back. B&W / 1945 / 58 min. is Tokyo in the late 1940s, its streets blasted act as counselor to the old man’s conviction world is taken on by Koichi Nishi (Toshiro whether the other man’s child is equally by war and its economy in collapse. When who is still terrorized by the memories of Mifune), looking for revenge in the death worth saving. “In the Woods” Synopsis: It is based Murakami, a young detective, loses his gun to past and has great anxieties for the future. of his father. Koichi is a private secretary to (Rashomon) on the kabuki play a thief, he must descend into a hell teeming a government official, and in the opening “Red Beard” B&W / 1950 / 88 min. Kanjinchō, which is in turn based on the with shady characters to retrieve it. Soon “The Lower scene, at Koichi’s wedding to the official’s (Akahige) B&W / Noh play Ataka. The film stars Hanshiro Iwai, Murakamis pistol turns up as the weapon in Depths” disabled daughter, a special cake is brought 1965 / 185 min. Synopsis: This Susumu Fujita, Kenichi Enomoto, and Denjirō the murder of a woman, leading the guilt- (Donzoko) in which jolts those present -- it reminds landmark film is a Ōkōchi. The film was initially banned by the ridden rookie to seek help from his senior B&W / 1957 / 125 them of the suicide that paved the way Synopsis: The brilliant exploration occupying Supreme Commander of the Allied officer, Sato (Takashi Shimura). Together, min. for their current positions of power. Then film depicts the of truth and human weakness. It opens with Powers (SCAP) due to its portrayal of feudal Murakami and Sato must hunt down the killer the police arrive and arrest one of the relationship a priest, a woodcutter, and a peasant taking values. It was later released after the signing before he strikes again. Synopsis: An wedding guests. Unknown to the others, between a town refuge from a downpour beneath a ruined gate of the Treaty of San Francisco in 1952. adaptation based Koichi is the hidden force behind all the doctor and his new trainee, wherein a in 10th-century Japan talking about rumors of “To Live” (Ikiru) on the play by Maxim Gorky wherein the strange happenings that begin to sting their young Dr. Yasumoto, returned to Edo after a samurai’s death. The reconstruction of what “No Regrets B&W / 1952 / 143 film’s setting was changed to Edo-period consciences and ruin their lives. Ghostly graduating from a Dutch medical school happened as witnessed by the robber, the for Our Youth” min. Japan. It is a comical tale focusing on the figures and would-be killers in the dark in Nagasaki. He presented himself at the samurai’s wife, a spiritualistic medium speaking (Waga Seishun ni daily tribulations of a group of lower-class streets contrast with shining corporate public clinic managed by Dr. Niide (Toshiro on behalf of the deceased samurai and a Kuinashi) B&W / Synopsis: The film people living in a small tenement. Osugi offices as the plot maneuvers to its tragic Mifune) known as the Red Beard because woodcutter. Only two things about the incident 1946 / 110 min. tells the existential (Isuzu Yamada), the landlady, bickers with conclusion. of the color of his beard. Dr. Yasumoto seem to be clear, that the samurai’s wife was struggle of one Okayo (Kyôko Kagawa), her sister, over the didn’t find anything to his liking and started raped and her husband died. However, the other Synopsis: It is based ordinary man in his man they both want--Sutekichi (Toshirô “Yojinbo (a.k.a to refuse hospital procedures hoping to elements radically differ as the four participants on the Takigawa desperate search for purpose. Upon learning Mifune), the thief. Other characters in the The Bodyguard)” earn dismissal for his misbehavior. As Dr. or witnesses relate their own stories and no one incident of 1933. The he has terminal stomach cancer; a low-level close confines include a priest (Bokuzen (Yōjinbō) Yasumoto struggles to come to terms with knows who is telling the truth. film stars Setsuko Hara, Susumu Fujita, and government bureaucrat (Takashi Shimura) Hidari), an ex-samurai (Minoru Chiaki), an B&W / 1961 / 110 his situation, Dr. Niide brings him along to Denjirō Ōkōchi. Fujita’s character was inspired leaves his job for 30 years. His journey actor (Kamatari Fujiwara), and a gambler min. rescue a sick twelve-year-old girl and then “Judo Saga” by the real-life Hotsumi Ozaki, who assisted begins when he actually starts “living” with (Koji Mitsui). By setting the film in one room assigns the girl to him as his first patient. (Sugata Sanshiro) the famous Soviet spy Richard Sorge and he people in the society and his inspiration to and a small adjoining courtyard, Kurosawa Synopsis: It is a 1961 Through his efforts to heal the traumatized B&W / 1943 / 81 min. became the only Japanese citizen to suffer the do something meaningful -- to leave a legacy, emphasizes both its claustrophobic premise jidaigeki (period girl, Dr. Yasumoto begins to understand death penalty for treason during World War however small, that makes the world a better and theatrical origins. Unlike Jean Renoir’s drama) film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It the magnitude of cruelty and suffering Synopsis: This first Two. place. version, Kurosawa’s film follows Gorky’s play is the story of a ronin (masterless samurai), around him as well as his power to ease that effort by Japanese faithfully, making this film a much darker portrayed by Toshirō Mifune, who arrives suffering, and learns to regret his vanity and director Akira “One Wonderful “Seven Samurai” one and perforce eliminating Renoir’s in a small town where competing crime selfishness. Kurosawa was Sunday” (Shichinin no happy ending. lords make their money from gambling. originally released as Sugata Sanshiro. The film, (Subarashiki Samurai) The ronin convinces each crime lord to hire made under reasonably smooth conditions Nichiyōbi) B&W / B&W / 1954 / 207 “The Hidden him as protection from the other. By careful “Dodes’kaden” despite the war, is based on a best-selling novel 1947 / 108 min. min. Fortress” maneuvering and the use of his sword, (Dodes’kaden) about the creation of Judo. The film mostly (Kakushi-Toride he brings peace, but only by encouraging B&W / 1970 / 140 explores the relationship between the creator of Synopsis: It is a 1947 Synopsis: Set in no San-Akunin) both sides to wipe each other out in bloody min. this form of self-defense and his faithful protege. Japanese film co- 16th Century Japan, B&W / 1958 / 139 battles. written and directed by Akira Kurosawa. Yuzo the film follows the plight of a defenseless min. Synopsis: The “The Most and his financée, Masako, spend a Sunday farming village that lives in constant fear of “Sanjuro” first color film Beautiful” together in Tokyo. Between them they have marauding bandits. The farmers know that Synopsis: The (Tsubaki Sanjūrō) by Kurosawa (Ichiban tsukushiku) 35 yen and are determined to make it last. The when their crops are harvested, the thugs film begins with two bedraggled peasants, B&W / 1962 / 96 min. set in a contemporary Japanese rubbish B&W / 1944 / 85 min. film was made during the Occupation and will attack; a group of farmers begs Kambei Tahei and Matashichi (Minoru Chiaki and dump intertwining tales of life of various shows some of the challenges facing post-war (Takashi Shimura), a brave elder samurai, and Kamatari Fujiwara) escaping the aftermath Synopsis: It is a characters living in the dump. These Synopsis: It is a 1944 Tokyo. It is notable in the Kurosawa canon his young eager apprentice, Katsushiro (Isao of a battle. While trying to make their way sequel to Kurosawa’s occupants include, among others, a father propaganda drama because Masako breaks the fourth wall near Kimura), to defend their terrorized village home, they meet and begin to travel with previous film and son living in their vehicle but dreaming film written and the end of the film. from bandits. Encountering various nomadic General Rokurota Makabe (Toshirō Mifune). Yojimbo, with Mifune of a house, a young girl who takes out her directed by Akira Kurosawa. The film is set in an warriors on the streets, Kanbei slowly put The general is trying to transport the Toshiro reprising his role as a wandering feelings about her abusive uncle on a local optics factory during the Second World War. The “Drunken Angel” together his team of swordsmen, recruiting princess of a defeated royal family, Princess ronin. The film is largely based on Shūgorō delivery boy and a pair of alcoholics and film depicts the struggle of the workers at a lens (Yoidore Tenshi) Shichiroji (Daisuke Katô), Gorobei (Yoshio Yuki (Misa Uehara), and what remains of Yamamoto’s short story “Peaceful Days” their beleaguered wives. Through their factory to meet production targets during World B&W / 1948 / 98 min. Inaba), Heihachi (Minoru Chiaki), Kyuzo their wealth to safe territory in secret. (Nichinichi hei-an), the story begins when a stories, the intersection of life and fantasy, War II. They continually drive themselves, both (Seiji Miyaguchi) and Kikuchiyo (Toshirô The peasants mostly impede his mission, group of loyal but hapless samurai is trying and the sadness it can cause becomes singly and as a group, to exceed the targets set Synopsis: A 1948 Mifune) to complete the group. Together they sometimes trying to run off with the gold. to rescue their master, the Chamberlain, apparent. The film title refers to a Japanese for them by the factory directors. Japanese film directed consolidate the village’s defenses and shape They are later joined by a farmer’s daughter from the clutches of a ruthless rival. Their onomatopoeia for the sound made by a by Akira Kurosawa. It the villagers to fight. Eventually, the villagers’ (Toshiko Higuchi), whom they acquire at initial impulsive rescue attempts fail, and tram or train while in motion (“Do-desu-ka- “Judo Saga is particularly notable warriors launch a preemptive strike against an inn from a slave-trader, or procurer. they seem to be doomed until the shabby den do-desu-ka-den do-desu-ka-den”). The Part 2 “ for being the first of a total of sixteen film the bandits, and begin a series of intense Together, the five make an arduous and but brilliant swordfighter Sanjuro offers his sound is made by the boy as he makes his (Zoku Sugata collaborations between director Kurosawa and conflicts that culminates in a rain-soaked desperate trek through enemy territory, help. daily faux-tram route through the dump. Sanshiro) actor Toshirō Mifune. It stars Takashi Shimura final battle--without a doubt, one of the most transporting a treasure of gold that the B&W / 1945 / 82 min. as an alcoholic doctor, running a flea-bitten stunning sequences in cinema history. princess and the general hope to use to clinic in the slums of Tokyo. Shimura tries to