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 | Posted On: 03/23/2010 At: 12:30:10 AM |
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Tues (Mar 23) 24hr KUROSAWA marathon on TCM
In celebration of (what would've been) Akira Kurosawa's 100th b-day, Turner Classic Movies has been running movies by him every Tuesday and tomorrow is the big all-day, all-night marathon.
I should've posted about this earlier, before they ran those 2 previous all-night marathons of other Kurosawa movies. If you haven't been watching TCM this month, you've missed some great overlooked Kurosawa films, including my new Kurosawa favorite: The Idiot (based on the Dostoevsky novel). There was also Ikiru and Red Beard and a number of his well-known samurai movies. I've enjoyed catching up with some of his films that I hadn't gotten around to and have a 14-hour stretch of some lesser known ones to watch for myself starting in the early morning, though I've seen the major ones showing in prime time since I have them on dvd already. I highly recommend Sanjuro, Yojimbo and Seven Samurai to anyone who hasn't seen them who has even the slightest interest in samurai/chambara/jidai-geki films.
Tomorrow's line-up includes 4 movies (the first four films starting at 6AM EST) which are currently only available on dvd in the US if you have $400 retail to spend on the big 25 movie boxset from Criterion.
Here's the line-up listed by EST (Florida time):
6:00 AM Sanshiro Sugata (1943)
A young man struggles to learn the ssence of the martial arts. Cast: Ryunosuke Tsukigata, Akitake Kono, Shoji Kiyokawa. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-79 mins, TV-PG
7:30 AM The Most Beautiful (1944)
Japanese women sacrifice everything for the war effort. Cast: Takashi Shimura, Shoji Kiyokawa, Ichiro Sugai. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-85 mins, TV-PG
9:00 AM TheMen Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945)
In medieval Japan, a feudal lord undertakes a perilous mission to put his brother's soul to rest. Cast: Kenjiro Okochi, Susumu Fujita, Kenichi Enomoto. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-59 mins, TV-PG
10:00 AM Sanshiro Sugata Part 2 (1945)
A judo fighter continues his training to prove his superiority to foreign challengers. Cast: Denjiro Okochi, Susumu Fujita, Ryunosuke Tsukigata. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-82 mins, TV-PG
11:30 AM No Regrets For Our Youth (1946)
A woman flees society after seeing her father and lover destroyed by government oppression. Cast: Danjiro Oicochi, Eiko Miyoshi, Setsuko Hara. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-110 mins, TV-PG
1:30 PM One Wonderful Sunday (1947)
An engaged couple tries to enjoy their Sunday holiday without spending any money. Cast: Midori Ariyama, Chieko Nakakita, Isao Numasaiki. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-110 mins, TV-PG
3:30 PM Drunken Angel (1948)
An alcoholic doctor builds a shaky friendship with a dying gangster. Cast: Takashi Shimura, Toshiro Mifune, Reizaburo Yamamoto. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-98 mins, TV-PG, CC
5:30 PM Stray Dog (1949)
When a detective's gun is stolen, he tears apart the underworld to get it back. Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi, Shimamura, Keiko Awaji. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-122 mins, TV-PG
8:00 PM Rashomon (1950)
In medieval Japan, four people offer conflicting accounts of a rape and murder. Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyo, Masayuki Mori. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-88 mins, TV-PG
9:30 PM Seven Samurai (1954)
Japanese villagers hire a team of traveling samurai to defend them against a bandit attack. Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Kuninori Kodo. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-207 mins, TV-14
1:00 AM Yojimbo (1961)
A samurai-for-hire sets the warring factions of a Japanese town against each other. Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Eijiro Tono, Seizaburo Kawazu. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-111 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format
3:00 AM Sanjuro (1962)
A wandering samurai recruits younger fighters to help him battle corruption. Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Hakadai, Yuzo Kayama. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-95 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format
4:45 AM Dodes 'Ka-Den (1970)
Slum dwellers in Tokyo fight to survive while dreaming of better lives. Cast: Yo****aka Zushi, Kin Sugai, Kaou Kato. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. C-140 mins, TV-14
They're showing a few more next Tues night (Mar 30), including his one Russian film Dersu Uzala (haven't seen it), Kagemusha (good samurai movie) and his colorful epic Ran (highly recommended samurai tale of revenge and tragedy, which was the 1st Kurosawa film I ever saw -- and the only one I've seen in a movie theater; it's a feudal Japanese reworking of Shakespeare's King Lear).
Tues Mar 30 EST (Florida time):
8:00pm Dersu Uzala (1975)
A Russian explorer brings the Asiatic hunter who saved his life back to civilization. Cast: Maksim Munzuk, Yuriy Solomin, M Bichkov, V Khrulev Dir: Akira Kurosawa C-141 mins, TV-PG
10:30pm Kagemusha (1980)
Japanese clansmen force a poor thief to impersonate their dead warlord. Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kenichi Hagiwara, Kota Yui Dir: Akira Kurosawa C-181 mins, TV-PG
1:45am Ran (1985)
An aging lord's decision to retire brings out the worst in his sons. Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryu Dir: Akira Kurosawa C-163 mins
more info on the 100th Anniversary Kurosawa tribute can be found on TCM's website:
http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article/?cid=290029
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Jareth David
AM's resident film fanatic/TCM addict
favorite directors: Hitchcock, Bava, Miyazaki & Takahata, Ozu, Kurosawa, Powell/Pressburger, Wong Kar-wai, Lubitsch, Wilder, Fassbinder, Nic Ray
favorite producer: Val Lewton |
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Tues (Mar 23) 24hr KUROSAWA marathon on TCM
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