Samurai Films

Samurai Films PDF Author: Roland Thorne
Publisher: Oldacastle Books
ISBN: 1842434004
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 169

Get Book Here

Book Description
Samurai films are an intriguing combination of frenetic action sequences, moving personal drama, and philosophical observations on loyalty and violence, all set against the spectacular backdrop of pre-industrial Japan. References to samurai films are quite common in film literature, and many mainstream directors, from Hollywood and elsewhere, have been inspired and influenced by them—Lucas by Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress, and the genre of spaghetti westerns by Kurosawa's Yojimbo. Want to see one of the major inspirations for Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill films? Look no further than Toshiya Fujita's Lady Snowblood. The history of this unique Japanese genre, including its influence on world cinema is covered, as well as analysis of the key films that have defined the genre. Classics such as Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and Hiroshi Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy are included, as well as more recent films, such as Shinobi, Aragami, and The Twilight Samurai.

Samurai Films

Samurai Films PDF Author: Roland Thorne
Publisher: Oldacastle Books
ISBN: 1842434004
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 169

Get Book Here

Book Description
Samurai films are an intriguing combination of frenetic action sequences, moving personal drama, and philosophical observations on loyalty and violence, all set against the spectacular backdrop of pre-industrial Japan. References to samurai films are quite common in film literature, and many mainstream directors, from Hollywood and elsewhere, have been inspired and influenced by them—Lucas by Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress, and the genre of spaghetti westerns by Kurosawa's Yojimbo. Want to see one of the major inspirations for Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill films? Look no further than Toshiya Fujita's Lady Snowblood. The history of this unique Japanese genre, including its influence on world cinema is covered, as well as analysis of the key films that have defined the genre. Classics such as Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and Hiroshi Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy are included, as well as more recent films, such as Shinobi, Aragami, and The Twilight Samurai.

The Samurai Film

The Samurai Film PDF Author: Alain Silver
Publisher: Overlook
ISBN: 9780715636626
Category : Samurai films
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Get Book Here

Book Description
Alain Silver deconstructs the key aspects of the Samurai film, from its focus on violence and death as a means of understanding life and the significance of swords and weaponry, to key elements and motifs such as hara-kiri, rebellion and nostalgia for Japan's feudal past.

The Samurai Films of Akira Kurosawa

The Samurai Films of Akira Kurosawa PDF Author: David Desser
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 184

Get Book Here

Book Description


Stray Dogs & Lone Wolves

Stray Dogs & Lone Wolves PDF Author: Patrick Galloway
Publisher: Stone Bridge Press, Inc.
ISBN: 9781880656938
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 235

Get Book Here

Book Description
The first popular survey of Japan's samurai film genre and its heroes.

Akira Kurosawa

Akira Kurosawa PDF Author: Eric San Juan
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1538110903
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 261

Get Book Here

Book Description
The career of acclaimed filmmaker Akira Kurosawa spanned more than five decades, during which he directed more than thirty movies, many of them indisputable classics: Rashomon, Ikiru, Seven Samurai, The Hidden Fortress, Throne of Blood, and Yojimbo, among others. During the height of his creative output, Kurosawa became one of the most influential and well-known directors in the world, inspiring filmmakers like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas and movies such as The Magnificent Seven; The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly; and Star Wars. In Akira Kurosawa: A Viewer’s Guide, Eric San Juan provides a comprehensive yet accessible examination of the artist’s entire cinematic endeavors. From early films of the 1940s such as Sanshiro Sugata and No Regrets for Our Youth to Oscar winner Dersu Uzala—the author helps readers understand what makes Kurosawa’s work so powerful. Each discussion includes a brief synopsis of the film, an engaging analysis, and thoughtful insights into the film’s significance. All of Kurosawa’s works, from 1943 to 1993, are analyzed here, including the overlooked television documentary Song of the Horse, produced in 1970. In addition to more than twenty photos, Akira Kurosawa: A Viewer’s Guide provides rich discussions that will appeal to students of cinema as well as anyone who wants to learn more about Japan’s greatest director.

The Last Samurai

The Last Samurai PDF Author: Warner Brothers
Publisher: Liberty Street
ISBN: 9781931933636
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 172

Get Book Here

Book Description
Already slated as one of the top movies of 2003, "The Last Samurai," starring Tom Cruise, will be released nationally on December 5, 2003. This book contains parts of the script, exclusive stills from the movie, and interviews from the actors, actresses, and the director.

Film Genre

Film Genre PDF Author: Barry Keith Grant
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231850069
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 168

Get Book Here

Book Description
This is a concise evaluation of film genre, discussing genre theory and sample analyses of the western, science fiction, the musical, horror, comedy, and the thriller. It introduces the topic in an accessible way and includes sections on the principles of studying and understanding "the idea of genre"; genre and popular culture; the narrative and stylistic conventions of specific genres; the relations of genres to culture and history, race, gender, sexuality, class and national identity; and the complex relations between genre and authorship. Case studies include: 42nd Street, Pennies from Heaven, Red River, All That Heaven Allows, Night of the Living Dead, Die Hard, Little Big Man, Blue Steel, and Posse.

Kurosawa

Kurosawa PDF Author: Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 9780822325192
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 500

Get Book Here

Book Description
This work will become not only the newly definitive study of Kurosawa, but will redefine the field of Japanese cinema studies, particularly as the field exists in the west.

The Warrior's Camera

The Warrior's Camera PDF Author: Stephen Prince
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 9780691010465
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 444

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa, who died at the age of 88, has been internationally acclaimed as a giant of world cinema. Rashomon, which won both the Venice Film Festival's grand prize and an Academy Award for best foreign-language film, helped ignite Western interest in the Japanese cinema. Seven Samurai and Yojimbo remain enormously popular both in Japan and abroad. In this newly revised and expanded edition of his study of Kurosawa's films, Stephen Prince provides two new chapters that examine Kurosawa's remaining films, placing him in the context of cinema history. Prince also discusses how Kurosawa furnished a template for some well-known Hollywood directors, including Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas. Providing a new and comprehensive look at this master filmmaker, The Warrior's Camera probes the complex visual structure of Kurosawa's work. The book shows how Kurosawa attempted to symbolize on film a course of national development for post-war Japan, and it traces the ways that he tied his social visions to a dynamic system of visual and narrative forms. The author analyzes Kurosawa's entire career and places the films in context by drawing on the director's autobiography--a fascinating work that presents Kurosawa as a Kurosawa character and the story of his life as the kind of spiritual odyssey witnessed so often in his films. After examining the development of Kurosawa's visual style in his early work, The Warrior's Camera explains how he used this style in subsequent films to forge a politically committed model of filmmaking. It then demonstrates how the collapse of Kurosawa's efforts to participate as a filmmaker in the tasks of social reconstruction led to the very different cinematic style evident in his most recent films, works of pessimism that view the world as resistant to change.

A Companion to the Action Film

A Companion to the Action Film PDF Author: James Kendrick
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119100763
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 593

Get Book Here

Book Description
An authoritative guide to the action-packed film genre With 24 incisive, cutting-edge contributions from esteemed scholars and critics, A Companion to the Action Filmprovides an authoritative and in-depth guide to this internationally popular and wide-ranging genre. As the first major anthology on the action film in more than a decade, the volume offers insights into the genre’s historical development, explores its production techniques and visual poetics, and provides reflections on the numerous social, cultural, and political issues it has and continues to embody. A Companion to the Action Film offers original research and critical analysis that examines the iconic characteristics of the genre, its visual aesthetics, and its narrative traits; considers the impact of major directors and stars on the genre’s evolution; puts the action film in dialogue with various technologies and other forms of media such as graphic novels and television; and maps out new avenues of critical study for the future. This important resource: Offers a definitive guide to the action film Contains insightful contributions from a wide range of international film experts and scholars Reviews the evolution of the genre from the silent era to today’s age of digital blockbusters Offers nuanced commentary and analysis of socio-cultural issues such as race, nationality, and gender in action films Written for scholars, teachers and students in film studies, film theory, film history, genre studies, and popular culture, A Companion to the Action Film is an essential guide to one of international cinema’s most important, popular, and influential genres.