The Films of Akira Kurosawa, Third Edition, Expanded and Updated [Paperback]

In an epilogue provided for his incomparable study of Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998), Donald Richie reflects on Kurosawa's life work of thirty feature films and describes his last, unfinished project, a film set in the Edo period to be calledThe Ocean Was Watching.

Kurosawa remains unchallenged as one of the century's greatest film directors. Through his long and distinguished career he managed, like very few others in the teeth of a huge and relentless industry, to elevate each of his films to a distinctive level of art. HisRashomonone of the best-remembered and most talked-of films in any languagewas a revelation when it appeared in 1950 and did much to bring Japanese cinema to the world's attention. Kurosawa's films display an extraordinary breadth and an astonishing strength, from the philosophic and sexual complexity ofRashomonto the moral dedication ofIkiru, from the naked violence ofSeven Samuraito the savage comedy ofYojimbo, from the terror-filled feudalism ofThrone of Bloodto the piercing wit ofSanjuro.

Donald Richieis the Arts Critic forThe Japan Times.