Akira Kurosawa (黒澤 明) was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. He displayed a bold, dynamic style, strongly influenced by Western cinema yet distinct from it; he was involved with all aspects of film production. Kurosawa entered the Japanese film industry in 1936, 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 during World War II with the popular action film Sanshiro Sugata (1943). After the war, the critically acclaimed Drunken Angel (1948), in which Kurosawa cast the then little-known 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 fifteen films. Rashomon (1950), which premiered in Tokyo, became the surprise winner of the Golden Lion at the 1951 Venice Film Festival. The commercial and critical success of that 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. Kurosawa directed approximately one film per year throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, including a number of highly regarded (and often adapted) films, such as Ikiru (1952), Seven Samurai (1954), Throne of Blood (1957), Yojimbo (1961) and High and Low (1963). After the 1960s he became much less prolific; even so, his later work—including two of his final films, Kagemusha (1980) and Ran (1985)—continued to receive great acclaim. In 1990, he accepted the Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement. Posthumously, he was named Asian of the Century in the Arts, Literature, and Culture category by AsianWeek magazine and CNN, cited there as being among the five people who most prominently contributed to the improvement of Asia in the 20th century. His career has been honored by many retrospectives, critical studies and biographies in both print and video, and by releases in many consumer media.

Filmography

• 2025Highest 2 Lowest — Original Film Writer
• 2025Searching For Kurosawa
• 2023The Draft! — Thanks
• 2022Living — Original Film Writer
• 2021Morceaux de Cannes
• 2016The Magnificent Seven — Original Film Writer
• 2011At the Gate of the Ghost — Original Story
• 2008The Last Princess — Original Story
• 2007High and Low — Original Film Writer
• 2007Ikiru — Screenplay
• 2007Tsubaki Sanjuro — Writer
• Samurai 7 — Original Concept, Original Film Writer
• 2002The Sea Is Watching — Screenplay
• Kaze no Yojimbo — Original Film Writer
• 2000After the Rain — Title Designer, Screenplay
• 2000Dora-heita — Screenplay
• 1999Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai — Thanks
• 1999Inferno — Original Film Writer
• 1999Kurosawa: The Last Emperor
• 1997Misty — Original Film Writer
• 1996Last Man Standing — Original Film Writer
• 1993Image: Kurosawa's Continuity: 'Kagemusha' — Concept Artist, Original Story
• 1993Image: Kurosawa's Continuity: 'Ran' — Original Story, Storyboard
• 1993Madadayo — Director, Editor, Screenplay
• 1991Rhapsody in August — Director, Editor, Screenplay
• 1990Dreams — Director, Storyboard Artist, Writer
• 1989Seven Warriors — Original Film Writer
• 1985Ran — Screenplay, Director, Editor, Storyboard Artist
• 1985Runaway Train — Original Film Writer
• 1984The Warrior and the Sorceress — Original Film Writer
• 1983The Seven Magnificent Gladiators — Original Film Writer
• 1980Battle Beyond the Stars — Original Story
• 1980Kagemusha — Director, Screenplay, Producer, Storyboard Artist, Editor
• The South Bank Show
• 1976The Last Round — Original Film Writer
• 1975Dersu Uzala — Director, Screenplay
• 1973Stray Dog — Original Story
• 1972The Magnificent Seven Ride! — Original Concept
• 1970Dodes'ka-den — Screenplay, Director, Executive Producer
• 1970Song of the Horse — Director, Writer
• 1970Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo — Original Concept
• 1969Guns of the Magnificent Seven — Original Concept
• 1968The Last Day of Hsianyang — Original Film Writer
• 1966Django — Original Film Writer
• 1966Return of the Seven — Original Concept
• 1965Red Beard — Director, Screenplay, Editor
• 1965Sanshiro Sugata — Writer, Producer
• 1964A Fistful of Dollars — Original Story
• 1964Jakoman and Tetsu — Screenplay
• 1964The Outrage — Original Story
• 1963High and Low — Screenplay, Director, Associate Producer, Editor
• 1963Legacy of the 500,000 — Editor
• 1962Sanjuro — Screenplay, Director, Editor
• 1962The Fencing Master — Screenplay
• 1961Yojimbo — Director, Editor, Screenplay, Producer
• 1960Play of the Week: Rashomon — Original Film Writer
• 1960The Bad Sleep Well — Producer, Editor, Director, Writer
• 1960The Magnificent Seven — Original Film Writer
• 1959Saga of the Vagabonds — Writer, Script
• 1958The Hidden Fortress — Editor, Screenplay, Producer, Director
• 1957Advance Patrol — Screenplay
• 1957The Lower Depths — Producer, Editor, Director, Screenplay
• 1957Throne of Blood — Editor, Director, Producer, Screenplay
• 1955I Live in Fear — Story, Director
• 1955Tomorrow I'll Be a Fire-Tree — Screenplay, Editor
• 1955Vanished Enlisted Man — Screenplay
• 1954Seven Samurai — Director, Screenplay, Editor
• 1953My Wonderful Yellow Car — Screenplay
• 1952Ikiru — Director, Screenplay, Editor
• 1952Sword for Hire — Screenplay
• 1952The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail — Director, Writer, Screenplay
• 1952Vendetta of a Samurai — Writer
• 1951Beyond Love and Hate — Screenplay
• 1951The Den of Beasts — Screenplay
• 1951The Idiot — Director, Editor, Screenplay
• 1950Escape at Dawn — Screenplay
• 1950Fencing Master — Adaptation
• 1950Jiruba no Tetsu — Screenplay
• 1950Rashomon — Director, Editor, Screenplay
• 1950Scandal — Director, Screenplay
• 1949Flirtation in Spring — Producer
• 1949Jakoman and Tetsu — Writer
• 1949Lady From Hell — Writer
• 1949Stray Dog — Writer, Director, Associate Producer
• 1949The Quiet Duel — Writer, Director
• 1948Drunken Angel — Director, Writer
• 1948The Portrait — Screenplay
• 1947Four Love Stories — Screenplay
• 1947One Wonderful Sunday — Director, Screenplay
• 1947Snow Trail — Screenplay
• 1946No Regrets for Our Youth — Editor, Writer, Director
• 1946Those Who Make Tomorrow — Director
• 1945Sanshiro Sugata, Part Two — Director, Screenplay
• 1945The Admirable Isshin Tasuke! — Screenplay
• 1944The Most Beautiful — Director, Writer
• 1944Wrestling-Ring Festival — Writer
• 1943Sanshiro Sugata — Director, Editor, Screenplay
• 1943World of Love — Writer
• 1942Currents of Youth — Story
• 1942Wings of Victory — Writer
• 1941Horse — Assistant Director, Writer
• 1940Enoken's Cropped Hair — Assistant Director
• 1940Roppa's Honeymoon — Assistant Director
• 1940The Monkey King — Assistant Director
• 1939Easy Alley — Assistant Director
• 1939Enoken’s Shrewd Period — Assistant Director
• 1938Composition Class — Assistant Director
• 1938Enoken's Surprising Life — Assistant Director
• 1938Subterranean Heat — Assistant Director
• 1938Tojuro's Love — Assistant Director
• 1937A Husband's Chastity: Fall Again — Third Assistant Director
• 1937A Husband's Chastity: If Spring Comes — Third Assistant Director
• 1937A Husband's Chastity: If Spring Comes & Fall Once Again — Third Assistant Director
• 1937Avalanche — Second Unit, Assistant Director
• 1937Enoken's Chikiri Kinta Part 1 – Momma, the Hat: The Nice Way — Third Assistant Director
• 1937Enoken's Chikiri Kinta Part 2 – Returning Is Scary, but the Weather Will Clear If You Wait — Third Assistant Director
• 1937Japanese Women's Textbook — Third Assistant Director
• 1937Saga of the Vagabonds, Part One: Tiger and Wolf — Third Assistant Director
• 1937Saga of the Vagabonds, Part Two: Forward at Dawn — Third Assistant Director
• 1937The Beautiful Hawk — Assistant Director
• 1936Enoken’s Ten Millions — Third Assistant Director
• 1936Enoken’s Ten Millions Sequel — Third Assistant Director
• 1936Paradise of the Virgin Flowers — Assistant Director
• 1936Tokyo Rhapsody — Third Assistant Director
• A Fistful of Dollars Remake — Original Film Writer

Appearances as themselves (27)

• 2020Babenco: Tell Me When I Die — Self (archive footage)
• 2013What Is Cinema? — Self
• 2012The World of Kazuo Miyagawa — Self
• 2011Kurosawa's Way — Self (archive footage)
• 2002Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Dodes'ka-den' — Self
• 2002Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Drunken Angel' — Self
• 2002Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'High and Low' — Self
• 2002Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Ikiru' — Self
• 2002Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Kagemusha' — Self
• 2002Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Ran' — Self
• 2002Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Red Beard' — Self
• 2002Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Sanjuro' — Self
• 2002Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Seven Samurai' — Self
• 2002Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Stray Dog' — Self
• 2002Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'The Bad Sleep Well' — Self
• 2002Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'The Hidden Fortress' — Self
• 2002Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'The Lower Depths' — Self
• 2002Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Throne of Blood' — Self
• 2002Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Yojimbo' — Self
• 2000A Message from Akira Kurosawa: For Beautiful Movies — Self
• 2000Kurosawa — Self
• 1993Akira Kurosawa: My Life in Cinema — Self
• 1993In Love With and Living Within Movies - Akira Kurosawa and Hayao Miyazaki — Self
• 1990Making of 'Dreams' — Self
• 1985A. K. — Self
• 1985Making of Ran — Self
• Spécial cinéma — Self