Doctorwho

Anyone know if any Kirawsawa films were shot with color film?

His films dont need it, but I just think it would be interesting to see.

Giantrobo

Yes, quite a few.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000041/

Crocker Jarmen

Yes. Ran, Dreams. I'm sure there are several others.

Troy Stiffler

I haven't seen all of his films. But I'm sure that Ran was in color.

Corleone

Every movie after Red Beard.

Giles

and "High and Low"

Giles

Ran was definately in colour.

Could you imagine a colourless Dreams? no, I don't think so.

Hokeyboy

Dodeskaden
Dersu Uzala
Kagemusha
Ran
Dreams
Rhapsody In August
Madadayo

And Dreams is simply one of the most sumptuous films ever made. Better, no, MUCH better than fruit cup.

jayson1017

I'm a great fan of Kurosawa's films (I've seen all that are available on vhs and dvd). All the films listed above are Kurosawa's color films. And Ran is one of Kurosawa's best films, which is up with like 7 (Rashomon, Ikiru, Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Throne of Blood, Hidden Fortress, High and Low and others) other of his masterpieces.

The Antipodean

Dr. Who, rush, rush rush and see "Ran" if you haven't. Simply astounding movie -- and gorgeous color, to boot! In my top 3 Kurosawa movies at least (the other two being "Seven Samurai" and "Ikiru").

Groucho

If only there were some of database, on the internet, where one could find the answers to questions like these.

Doctorwho

Yeah it's called the dvdtalk movie forum.

I've only seen Seven Samurai and Yojimbo does ran stack up to these?

TopHatCat64

I usually call it The Internet Movie Database (aka IMDB)

scroll2b

Or, go to www.allmovie.com.

The Nature Boy

Ran gets better and better the more I see it, the best use of color I can ever think of in a movie, on top of that.

Hiro11

About half of his career was shot in color.

Between Rashamon, Hidden Fortress, 7 Samurai, Ikiru, Ran, Yojimbo etc, I don't think there's a filmaker anywhere that I like as consistently as Kurosawa. Mainly, I have no idea why Kagemusha, a film I consider to be in Kurosawa's top five, is so neglected these days. This movie starts with quite possibly the greatest long continuous shot of his career (a soldier running down an endless, body-strewn stone staircase) and ends with another amazing, historically important image (which I won't reveal here). In between is one of the deeper and more involving character developments in movie history scattered with superb set pieces (example: the rifleman demonstrating his incredible accuracy). Even the story behind the making of the film is fascinating, it would make a terrific DVD.

Don't miss this movie, it's a little harder to find than some of the other Kurosawa's but it's definitely worth looking for.

Hokeyboy

Well, not really. He started shooting in color in 1970 up until his last film in 1993, but that was really only seven films. He did about two dozen before that in b&w.

Chronologically speaking, I suppose that would be half of his work in terms of time. But in terms of output, it's a smaller percentage.

Still, I share your love of Kagemusha. And I cannot wait for Criterion's upcoming DVD. I'd watch it a billion times before, say, Caveman.

The Nature Boy

Regarding Kagemusha, I think it's neglected right now because it hasn't gotten a proper DVD release, and we are on a DVD board. Not many people are trolling through their VHS. On top of that, it had a decidedly lukewarm reception considering it debuted in a similar time frame of Shogun. But I think it's day and it's due are coming. I still don't think it's a top 5 Kurosawa film, but that's hardly a knock considering the library of briallance he put out. But I've noticed both Redbeard and Throne of Blood gain a lot more praise and recognition with the Criteiron treatment, and I feel Kagemusha will get theirs.

HistoryProf

So if I REALLY liked Throne of Blood and very much enjoyed Rashomon (the only two Kurosawa's i've seen), I shouldn't worry about just ordering Ran MW from CH in my next order rather than wasting a netflix rental on it? In your esteemed opinions that is.....

Troy Stiffler

Yes. I admit that there were points that seemed a little tedious. But just stick with it, and you'll find that it's very entertaining.

The Nature Boy

Absolutely! It's a high retail disc, and if you don't like it, it has trade in/eBay value. Damn, that must be one of the higher priced CH titles, and I might just join if I can get that with the club. I've held off upgrading from VHS but knowing that I can get it on the cheap, I just might take the plunge.

And I think if you like Rashomon and Throne of Blood, you'll like this. Generally, they are two less acessible A.K. titles.

SilverScreen

Agreed...

I'd also like to see "Stray Dog", "Drunken Angel" and "The Bad Sleep Well"... Three additional films that Kurosawa teamed up with Mifune on that definitely deserve a DVD release.

The funny thing is that the public initially rejected his work on color film. "Dodes 'Ka-Den" was a complete failure in the box office which forced him to go abroad in order to finance his next two movies...

Dersu Uzala: Russian Financing

Kagemusha: He would of never gotten the movie made without the backing of Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas