Cinematic Point Of View

I finished reading Akira Kurosawa’s “Something Like An Autobiography” last week. It was incredible. Everything I hoped for and more.

If you’re a Kurosawa fan, a film history fan, or have an interest in pre and post war Japan, you will love this book. It really enriches the viewing experience of almost every film in his body of work, especially his early movies. It brings me so much happiness to hear how films like Drunken Angel and One Wonderful Sunday came together. Little details of creativity lost to time and brought back to life within these pages.

There are countless recollections of production challenges, studio censorship during the war, family tragedies, and turns of luck and fate.

And so many honest reflections. He isn’t afraid to admit which films are better than others. He also knows that even the weakest of productions can sometimes hold a larger purpose than what we see on the screen. The stories around No Regrets For Our Youth and The Most Beautiful come to mind. No spoilers here. Read the book!

“No matter where I go in the world, although I can’t speak any foreign language, I don’t feel out of place. I think of earth as my home. If everyone thought this way, people might notice just how foolish international friction is and they would put an end to it.”

Fascinating and inspiring, Akira Kurosawa’s autobiography is a rare and candid look into the life and mind of a remarkable artist who challenged the norms at a time of great change in the world. I feel like we’re lucky to have it all on record.

I highly recommend it.