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View Full Version : Two Modern-Setting Films of Kurosawa & Mifune



Kurai Tsuki
12th July 2004, 22:30
The director, Akira Kurosawa, and the actor, Toshiro Mifune, are perhaps best known for films like Seven Samurai and Yojimbo. But I've recently seen two movies with this magnificent duo that had nothing to do with samurai, in fact, they are set in the time they were made.

One of these films was called Stray Dog (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001UZZSG/103-0297007-1521444?v=glance), and is about a young detective, played by Toshiro Mifune whose gun is stolen. He later finds out that his gun has actually made it into the hands of a killer, and has to deal with the guilt that people are being shot with his stolen gun as he works to recover it, accompanied by a senior officer, played by Takashi Shimura.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0001UZZSG.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpghttp://www.sprout.org/toshiro/images/lastsamurai/straydog3.jpg

Another of these films, Scandal (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0780023455/103-0297007-1521444?v=glance) has Mifune playing a young artist who spends time with a female singer at a hotel, only to later find out that a tabloid has printed a slanderous article that the two of them were llovers, with a picture of the two of them standing on a hotel balcony. Thus Mifune's character (after punching the editor who wrote the story :lol: ) hires a lawyer to sue the publication.

But it seems that the lawyer character, played by Takashi Shimura, also has trouble upholding his honour. An important factor in the film is about him getting over his shortcomings.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0780023455.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpghttp://www.sprout.org/toshiro/images/lastsamurai/scandal2.jpg

Kurai Tsuki
12th July 2004, 22:45
An added note for Seven Samurai fans, Takashi Shimura was the one who played the leader of the seven.

He was in many ways the star of the movie, like Lee Marvin in The Dirty Dozen.

http://www.sprout.org/toshiro/images/pics/7samurai3.jpeg

ComradeRed
12th July 2004, 23:42
Yeah, he was also in the samurai trilogy! And sanjuro! Man, he is a great actor...

Kurai Tsuki
13th July 2004, 02:37
It appears I'll have to rewatch these movies :rolleyes:

I was so focused on Mifune that I forgot about the older, more experienced star :unsure:

truthaddict11
15th July 2004, 02:19
I want to see other Kurosawa films but those Criterion editions are so expensive, right now on the top of my list of his films to see are Yojimbo, Throne of Blood and
Hidden Fortress.

Kurai Tsuki
16th July 2004, 02:43
Have you checked a local library?

truthaddict11
16th July 2004, 15:28
my local library just started getting DVDs and I dont like VHS very much, the new DVDs have a much much better transfer especially Criterion Editions. And their collection sucks mainly consisting of those crappy buzz movie of the week kind of crap.