I've only seen Stray Dog, so I need to see his others, but which do you think is his best?

Also I was reading some info about him and looking into his unfinished screenplays and apparently he had written a bunch, and illustrations so that they could be made after he died.

Has anyone either of these?

After the Rain


The Sea is Watching

My favourite Kurosawa crime film is probably High and Low. It may actually be his best film, although I could easily spend a day or two arguing with myself about this.

Both After the Rain and The Sea is Watching are capable films worth watching, but not quite on the level of Kurosawa's own directorial output.

After the Rain is quite interesting because it includes so many old Kurosawa regulars in the cast and crew, as well as Toshiro Mifune's son in one of the roles. It really feels like a labour of love.

If you are interested in exploring Kurosawa further, I run a website, the link of which is in my signature. We also have a film club running, with Dora-heita (another posthumous film based on a script Kurosawa worked on) this month's title. Dersu Uzala next. It's a little quiet there at the moment because of the summer, but feel free to drop by.

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The only crime film I have seen of his is High and Low and to me, it is his best film. It is VERY dark in spots and surprisingly modern, especially for an early 60s Japanese film. Highly recommended.

I've seen HIGH AND LOW and STRAY DOG and like both of them a great deal, but HIGH AND LOW is a masterpiece. I haven't seen THE BAD SLEEP WELL. Does that qualify as a crime film?

Of course, one can argue that YOJIMBO is a crime film, given its origins in Dashiell Hammett's novel, "Red Harvest." In which case that would be my answer.

I think you could call it a crime film, although its interests lie beyond individual crime and are rather in the domain of wider business and political corruption. It is a revenge drama of sorts, some calling it Kurosawa's Hamlet.

The Bad Sleep Well has arguably the greatest opening 25 minutes of any Kurosawa film, but unfortunately the rest of the work doesn't quite live up to its brilliance. It is still a fine film, but especially the second half is not quite as tight as it could be.

The opening of The Bad Sleep Well really is great, I love it, it could be it's own short film, and I've shown that part alone to friends. I really like the rest of it as we'll. High and Low is very good as well, I'd say that's my favorite.

High & Low

High & Low without a doubt. Didn't even need to think about it for more than 2 seconds. I like both Stray Dog and The Bad Sleep Well, but High & Low is on another level. His period films get most of the attention, but it's my personal favorite of his films.

No contest.

Also, High and Low is a case of Kurosawa taking a source book (King's Ransom) and absolutely kicking that book's ass in the process, that's how much he elevates the source material.

High & Low (literal translation of the Japanese title is Heaven & Hell) for me as well. For a film made back in 1963, the suspense is incredible with a fantastic study of a ruthless business whose amoral character is thrown into question.

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without being redundant ...

High and Low

Yeah it is truly great on so many levels. Examples:



I am not a major Kurasowa fan and I have been more let down then anything. I really cannot stand the "theater" style of acting. I get Rashomon is influential based on how it tells it's story but I could not get past the acting. High and Low however surpassed all of my expectations and has quickly become one of my favorite classic films.

After the Rain aka When the Rain Lifts is very good. Saw it about ten years ago. Don't remember much other than really liking it. Also worth checking out is Runaway Train. Great flick.

High and Low is amazing.

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