Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 260
•
Trim: 6¼ x 9½
978-1-5381-1089-8 • Hardback • December 2018 • $45.00 • (£35.00)
978-1-5381-1090-4 • eBook • December 2018 • $42.50 • (£35.00)
Eric San Juan was the editor-in-chief for a family of weekly newspapers in New Jersey for more than a decade and was cohost of the Year of Hitchcock podcast. He is the author of Stuff Every Husband Should Know (2011) and the coauthor of A Year of Hitchcock: 52 Weeks with the Master of Suspense (Scarecrow, 2011) and Hitchcock’s Villains: Murderers, Mothers, and Maniac Issues (Scarecrow, 2013).
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Sanshiro Sugata (1943)
The Most Beautiful (1944)
Sanshiro Sugata Part 2 (1945)
The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail (1945)
No Regrets for Our Youth (1946)
One Wonderful Sunday (1947)
Drunken Angel (1948)
The Quiet Duel (1949)
Stray Dog (1949)
Scandal (1950)
Rashomon (1950)
The Idiot (1951)
Ikiru (1952)
Seven Samurai (1954)
I Live in Fear (1955)
Throne of Blood (1957)
The Lower Depths (1957)
The Hidden Fortress (1958)
The Bad Sleep Well (1960)
Yojimbo (1961)
Sanjuro (1962)
High and Low (1963)
Red Beard (1965)
Dodes’ka-Den (1970)
Song of the Horse (1971)
Dersu Uzala (1975)
Kagemusha (1980)
Ran (1985)
Dreams (1990)
Rhapsody in August (1991)
Madadayo (1993)
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
Akira Kurosawa’s films are examined in detail in this enjoyable overview of the renowned director’s career from San Juan (Hitchcock’s Villains). Focusing on Kurosawa’s themes rather than his techniques, San Juan readily succeeds in his goal of creating an accessible appreciation of Kurosawa’s work. . . . Many of the tales from Kurosawa’s life, particularly regarding his relationships with his actors—including his master-pupil relationship with star Toshiro Mifune and long marriage to actress Yoko Yaguchi—are so intriguing that readers will wish this were a full biography. . . . This guide to a master filmmaker’s work has appeal for cinephiles and casual movie viewers alike.
— Publishers Weekly
The book is easy and pleasant to read, covers a lot of ground, and gives the reader an excellent foundation from which to better understand Kurosawa’s works. You need neither a film studies degree nor an understanding of Japanese culture to understand what is being said. The book should work very well for its intended audience. . . . Akira Kurosawa: A Viewer’s Guide is a very well written, welcome book that fills a space that has existed for a while in English language Kurosawa bibliography. Get the book if you are new to Kurosawa, or get it as a gift for someone who you think would be into Kurosawa if pushed a little into that direction.
— Akirakurosawa.info