A rookie policeman chases an echo of himself through the backstreets of post-war Japan while looking for his missing gun in Akira Kurosawa’s sweltering noir.
Jan 28, 2023 • Subscribe
More like this
The Silent Duel (静かなる決闘, Akira Kurosawa, 1949)
A doctor who contracted syphilis from a patient wrestles with desire and responsibility in Kurosawa’s post-war drama.
Scandal (醜聞, Akira Kurosawa, 1950)
The battle for the soul of the post-war society is fought in the body of a conflicted lawyer in Akira Kurosawa’s seasonal morality tale.
BFI to Host Complete Akira Kurosawa Retrospective
At BFI Southbank January and February 2023.
Kagemusha (影武者, Akira Kurosawa, 1980)
A thief reborn as a lord finds himself caught between the contradictions of the feudal order and the borders of identity in Akira Kurosawa’s Sengoku-era tragedy.
The Idiot (白痴, Akira Kurosawa, 1951)
A pure soul is destroyed by the selfishness and duplicity of the post-war society in Kurosawa’s snowbound adaptation of the Dostoyevsky novel.
Akira Kurosawa Retrospective at the BFI 2023
The good folks at the BFI have sent us details for an up coming Akira Kurosawa Retrospective. Set to run from Sunday 1st January 2023 until ...
Yojimbo (用心棒, Akira Kurosawa, 1961)
A cynical ronin plays warring factions off against each other to save a moribund silk town in Akira Kurosawa’s samurai western.
Ikiru (生きる, Akira Kurosawa, 1952)
A lifelong bureaucrat is confronted by the emptiness of the salaryman dream when diagnosed with a terminal illness in Akira Kurosawa’s intensely moving melodrama.
Rashomon (羅生門, Akira Kurosawa, 1950)
A series of witnesses give conflicting accounts of a death in the forest in Akira Kurosawa’s exploration of the limits of objective truth.
Sanjuro (椿三十郎, Akira Kurosawa, 1962)
The cynical drifter finds himself offering fatherly advice to idealistic but hot-headed samurai youth in Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo followup.
Seven Samurai (七人の侍, Akira Kurosawa, 1954)
Desperate peasants recruit samurai protectors in Akira Kurosawa’s classic historical epic back in UK cinemas Oct. 29
The Lower Depths (どん底, Akira Kurosawa, 1957)
In the absence of salvation a comforting falsehood is the only means of survival in Akira Kurosawa’s adaptation of the Gorky play.
Curse of the Dog God (犬神の悪霊, Shunya Ito, 1977)
An emissary of modernity finds himself plagued by an ancient curse after upsetting the Dog God in Shunya Ito’s eerie folk horror.
Throne of Blood (蜘蛛巣城, Akira Kurosawa, 1957)
An ambitious retainer falls victim to the false promises of a forest spirit in Akira Kurosawa’s haunting adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
Stray Dog, Recovery of an MMO Junkie, and TWOCAR
Playoff football is on and, as of writing this, the Kansas City Chiefs blew a pretty big...
Stray Dog, Recovery of an MMO Junkie, and TWOCAR
Playoff football is on and, as of writing this, the Kansas City Chiefs blew a pretty big lead against the Tennessee Titans. Plus there’s seemingly some drama going…
The Most Beautiful (一番美しく, Akira Kurosawa, 1944)
Kurosawa’s second feature explores the intense dedication of a collection of factory girls crafting precision lenses in a late National Policy Film.
High and Low (天国と地獄, Akira Kurosawa, 1963)
A self-made millionaire faces a moral dilemma when his chauffeur’s son is kidnapped in place of his own in Kurosawa’s post-war crime film.
Dodes’ka-den (どですかでん, Akira Kurosawa, 1970)
The denizens of a small slum on the outskirts of the modern city live largely on wilful self-delusion in Kurosawa’s first experimentation with colour.
Drunken Angel (酔いどれ天使, Akira Kurosawa, 1948)
A gruff yet well intentioned doctor does his best to cure the ills of post-war Japan in a rundown slum on the edge of a fetid swamp in…
Rhapsody in August (八月の狂詩曲, Akira Kurosawa, 1991)
Three generations reckon with the wartime past after receiving news from estranged relatives in Hawaii in Kurosawa’s humanist drama.
Online Tributes to Akira Kurosawa for the 102nd Anniversary of his Birth
by Marc Saint-Cyr March 23rd is a particularly noteworthy date for admirers of Japanese cinema, as it marks the birth of one of its most b...
Droopy Shorts, 1943-1949
MGM’s animation department, founded in 1937, produced animated works until its closure in 1958 – the popular characters Tom and Jerry debuted through MGM in 1940, and three…
The Hidden Fortress (隠し砦の三悪人, Akira Kurosawa, 1958)
A fugitive princess offers a new hope for a peaceful and prosperous socitey in Akira Kurosawa’s Sengoku-era epic.
Stray
Stray got a lot of hype. If you were completely oblivious to internet discourse in the weeks leading up to its release, allow me to provide...
One Wonderful Sunday (素晴らしき日曜日, Akira Kurosawa, 1947)
A young couple attempt to have a nice day out in Tokyo for only 35 yen but eventually discover something much more valuable in Akira Kurosawa’s surprisingly upbeat…
I Live in Fear (生きものの記録, Akira Kurosawa, 1955)
An elderly man’s nuclear paranoia threatens to tear his family apart in Kurosawa’s post-war social drama.
Dr. Suess UPA spots (1949)
Sometimes a commercials can be a bright spot - and four them can be bright spots!
Inu-Oh (犬王, Masaaki Yuasa, 2021)
A blind Biwa player and a cursed young man exorcise the spirits of the Heike through musical expression in Masaaki Yuasa’s stunning prog rock anime
The Invisible Man Appears (1949) review
“Adachi’s mystery sci-fi film remains, after all these years, a highly entertaining narrative.”
A Musical Up-Roar 1949-51
The early 50s saw Scott Bradley increasingly writing his own scores, and not incorporating MGM's own published songs.
YOTSUYA KAIDAN 四谷怪談 (1949) + NIJI OTOKO (THE RAINBOW MAN) 虹男 (1949)
YOTSUYA KAIDAN This is one of several film versions of Tsuruya Nanboku IV’s story, Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan. Nanboku wrote this tale...
No Regrets for Our Youth (わが青春に悔なし, Akira Kurosawa, 1946)
A young woman is torn between a future with a passionate rebel or spineless conformist in Kurosawa’s meditation on the militarist folly.
Hachiko (忠犬八公, Xu Ang, 2023)
The heartrending tale of a faithful dog who continued to wait for his owner at a cable car station becomes a poignant symbol for a left behind China…
The Desperate (どろ犬, Takaharu Saeki, 1964)
A bruiser cop railing against the system is pulled towards the dark side in Takaharu Saeki’s icy noir.
Oh Me, Oh My, OVA! δ: Dog Eat Dog Eat Dog Eat Dog
There are certain words that have a wide variety of interpretations, depending on the usage, context, & intention, & "dog" might just be one...
Akira
Akira is an Action Science Fiction Adventure anime film by legendary Japanese animation studio Tokyo Movie Shinsha. Even if many people consider something a masterpiece, that does not…
Thicker Than Water 犬猿 Director: Keisuke Yoshida (2018)
Billed as a comedy, Thicker Than Water by director Keisuke Yoshida turns into a mirthless drama as he piles the misery on the characters. Thicker Than Water 犬猿…
Manga Musings: Onani Master Kurosawa
Myriad manga are set in the school environment and granted, a lot that I've come into contact with focus on cute high school girls. Onani Master Kurosawa however,…
[Stray Kids] Fairytale
I can see right through you, but I’ll pretend I can’t.
Dog Days
Name: Dog DaysGenre: Adventure, FantasyRating: 5.0/10 Summary: In the land of Fronaldo, the Republic of Biscotti has been aggressively attacked by the Lion Kingdom of Galette. Facing potential defeat, Princess Millhiore summons…
AKIRA Pamphlet
Hi there! It’s been awhile. Apologies for the delay! Uni has been my top priority these days, but I still love sharing resources on this blog. Hopefully I’ll…
Vertical Akira
Lately it seems like every day people come up with ingenious new ways to use the latest generation of AI algorithms. A few weeks ago, this video by…
Sweet Home (スウィートホーム, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 1989)
A documentary film crew encounter a vengeful ghost while investigating a creepy mansion in an early gothic horror adventure from Kiyoshi Kurosawa.
Tokyo Sonata (トウキョウソナタ, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2008)
Orphaned salarymen are the soulless ghosts haunting an increasingly empty city in Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s eerie tale of urban anxiety
Dog Signal Episode 10 Review – A Stressed Dog
Poor Hana, having to suffer stress from a scary owner.
Cat RPG Review: Stray
So because I love every kind of cat and I just want to hug every cat, I decided to get Stray on Steam as it got released this…
Bungo Stray Dogs [ Review ]
Bungou Stray Dogs (BSD) is an adaption of the 2012 manga series of the same name, being written by Kafka Asagiri and illustrated by Sango Harukawa. This 12-episode…
Review: Grapple Dog
Grapple Dog delivers a solid 2D action platformer with fresh and interesting mechanics, impossibly cute characters and a soundtrack that’s straight fire! Don’t be fooled by the charming…
Dog Signal Episode 18 Review – The Mangaka’s Deaf Dog
Pets can be the best motivators to discover yourself.