Kurosawa, Akira 1910-1998

Rashōmon by Akira Kurosawa ( Visual )
189 editions published between 1950 and 2014 in 10 languages and held by 3,714 WorldCat member libraries worldwide
Four people involved in the murder of a gentleman in feudal Japan and the seduction of his wife report differing views of what actually happened

Ran by Akira Kurosawa ( Visual )
167 editions published between 1985 and 2011 in 10 languages and held by 3,095 WorldCat member libraries worldwide
Set in the early 16th century Japan, an ageing ruler, Lord Hidetora, annpounces his intention to divide his land equally among 3 sons. This decision unleashes a power struggle between the 3

Seven samurai by Akira Kurosawa ( Visual )
158 editions published between 1953 and 2012 in 5 languages and held by 2,039 WorldCat member libraries worldwide
The setting is 16th Century Japan, where a small farming community appeals to seven very special Samurai Warriors to help them fend off an evil ring of Bandits victimising their crops, their women, and their lives year after year. The farmers wish to either hire the Samurai to fight for them, or to be shown the art of defence. Mifune portrays the latest farmer, yearning to be a true Samurai while Shimura is the Samurai leader (Yul Brynnner in the Hollywood version). Director Kurosawa's almost unbearable violence is skillfully blended with poetic beauty, ironic humour, and the moral code of the Sumurai, leaving the viewer's senses exhausted yet exhilarated throughout. The epic battle scene has been compared with D.W. Griffith's "BIRTH! OF A NATION", by the noted film critic Pauline Kael, acknowledging Kurosawa as one of the greatest film craftsmen ever

Ikiru by Akira Kurosawa ( Visual )
115 editions published between 1952 and 2011 in 3 languages and held by 1,946 WorldCat member libraries worldwide
Watanabe discovers that he has cancer and only six months to live. He is forced to appraise his life. He decides that to make his life meaningful he must help others and so he wages a one-man battle against the local bureaucracy to reclaim a local wasteland into a playground

Kumonosujō Throne of blood (Spider's web castle) by Akira Kurosawa ( Visual )
102 editions published between 1957 and 2014 in 4 languages and held by 1,850 WorldCat member libraries worldwide
Set in 16th century Japan, Toshiro Mifune as Macbeth plays a simple soldier, full of exuberance and fire. The samurai is goaded by his wife and a spirit to murder his friend and his lord. Kurosawa's film is noteworthy for its eeerie atmospherics and powerful use of elements derived from Noh theatre. (Circulates)

Yōjinbō ( Visual )
99 editions published between 1961 and 2010 in 4 languages and held by 1,781 WorldCat member libraries worldwide
Director Akira Kurosawa's influential 1961 effort, an action-packed, sometimes humorous reconception of the individualistic loner from the American Western, stars Mifune, the director's leading man of choice, as a samurai-for-hire who becomes involved in a dispute between two warring factions in a small village

Kagemusha by Tsutomu Yamazaki ( Visual )
115 editions published between 1979 and 2014 in 7 languages and held by 1,539 WorldCat member libraries worldwide
A powerful warlord, Shingen is dying, so he orders his clan to find a double--a shadow warrior--to replace him and to keep his death secret so his enemies won't attack. 1980 Cannes Film Festival grand prize winner

Shichinin no samurai Seven samurai ( Visual )
18 editions published between 1954 and 2006 in Japanese and English and held by 1,323 WorldCat member libraries worldwide
This epic masterpiece is about a group of 16th century samurai who are hired to defend a small Japanese village that finds itself annually raided by an army of bandits who steal the meager crops harvested by the peasants. Tired of relinquishing their food supply but woefully inept in combat skills, the villagers decide to hire a band of samurai to protect them. In addition to the primary conflict between the villagers and the bandits, much of the tale revolves around young Katsushiro's coming-of-age, both sexually and emotionally. Kikuchiyo's search for acceptance forms the other major storyline. Indeed, everyone in Seven Samurai is searching: for adventure, for experience, for freedom from their oppressors

Dreams by Akira Kurosawa ( Visual )
41 editions published between 1990 and 2011 in 6 languages and held by 1,247 WorldCat member libraries worldwide
A Japanese legend, living dolls in a peach orchard, a deadly snow fairy, a haunted war survivor, Van Gogh painting crows, a terrifying nuclear disater, miserly ogres & a village of watermills; 8 powerful moments revealing human nature from the vivid imagination of Akira Kurosawa

Tengoku to jigoku by Akira Kurosawa ( Visual )
52 editions published between 1963 and 2011 in 3 languages and held by 1,214 WorldCat member libraries worldwide
A complex crime thriller in which a wealthy shoe manufacturer's chauffeur's son is kidnapped in mistake for his own, and he faces a moral dilemma -- should he pay the ransom anyway and risk losing his position?