Arguably the most celebrated Japanese filmmaker of all time, Akira Kurosawa had a career that spanned from the Second World War to the early ’90. He came to world of films following a brief stint as a painter. After years of working on numerous films as an assistant director and scriptwriter, he made his debut as a director in 1943, during World War II, with the popular action film Sanshiro Sugata(a.k.a. Judo Saga). After the war, the critically acclaimed Drunken Angel(1948),in which Kurosawa cast then-unknown actor Toshiro Mifune in a starring role, cemented the director’s reputation as one of the most important young filmmakers in Japan. The two men would go on to collaborate on another 15 films. His wife Yoko Yaguchi was also an actress in one of his films.

Rashomon, which premiered in Tokyo in August 1950, and which also starred Mifune, became on September 10, 1951, the surprise winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and was subsequently released in Europe and North America.The commercial and critical success of this film opened up Western film markets for the first time to the products of the Japanese film industry, which in turn led to international recognition for other Japanese filmmakers. Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, Kurosawa directed approximately a film a year, He stands as a monument of artistic, entertainment, and personal achievement. His best-known films remain his samurai epics Seven Samurai and Yojimbo. But his intimate dramas, such as Ikiru and High and Low, are no less acclaimed . The significant phase of Kurosawa’s career came during the post war era, with Drunken Angel and Stray Dog. These are gritty dramas about people on the margins of society that featured the first notable appearances by Toshiro Mifune, the director’s longtime leading man. Kurosawa would subsequently gain international fame with Rashomon, a breakthrough in nonlinear narrative and sumptuous visuals. Kurosawa rebounded by expanding his dark brand of humanism into new stylistic territory, with films such as Kagemusha and Ran,visionary,colour,epic ruminations on modern man and nature. The city had a long tradition of screening morning shows in the different cinema halls. Like all good things it has ceased to exist. Now Nandan two is seeking to revive it and this Sunday it screened Rashomon at 10.00 a.m. Another Kurosawa film, Ikiru will be shown in the following week at the same time. Seven Samurais and Red Beard will be screened at 9.30 p.m on the following Sundays