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        by Kaare Kvenild
        November 2007

I'm insanely meticulous when it comes to organizing my DVDs. My collection weighs in at over 400 DVDs, and they are alphabetized. But wait, they are not merely alphabetized, before that point, they are separated by genre and then put in alphabetical order by title. That is all except for two subgenres of my own.

Main genres are ones like Action, Comedy or Drama. My two subgenres have films in those categories, but they are special. These two subgenres are dedicated to two directors whose films I hold more dearly than the rest. One is the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock; my favorite movie of all time is "Psycho." The films of Alfred Hitchcock are some of the most creative story-telling films I have ever seen. In Hitch's case, the DVD's I have are placed in order of their initial film release. But like Hitchcock's famous use of "the McGuffin," this article is not about Hitchcock.

The other director is the great Japanese master, Akira Kurosawa. His films are in the order that Criterion releases them on DVD. I stumbled upon Kurosawa in college when I bought a copy of Entertainment Weekly's special edition on their picks of the 100 Greatest Films of all Time. EW's list included Kurosawa's masterpiece, "Seven Samurai." So, I went to the video store (when they still had just video tapes, and not many DVD's), and rented this movie that used up two videotapes. I watched the three-hour epic and was hooked. For the first time in my life, reading subtitles and hearing the audio in a foreign tongue did not bother me.

I purchased a DVD player a few years later and my first expensive title was Criterion's edition of Seven Samurai, which I paid $40 for. From that point on, I was a Kurosawa fan. Every time Criterion would release one of his films on DVD, I would buy them, usually without having ever seen the movie. I did this knowing I would be blown away by whatever it was Kurosawa had put on film, and by whatever Criterion decided to release. As readers of this site know, I am a huge fan of the Criterion Collection, and their Akira Kurosawa titles are top notch and highlight releases for me.

The following list is a compilation of my five favorite Akira Kurosawa titles and why. If one person can be encouraged to look at his films because they read this list, I've done my job. Enjoy!

#5
Ran (1985)

Ran is the last great film Kurosawa made. It made people see that at even at age 75, Kurosawa could make a truly epic and moving film. The film is an adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy, "King Lear." It is an emotional rollercoaster as you follow the protagonist, Lord Hidetora Ichimonji, through his downfall. The other thing that draws the viewers to the film is the use of color; the color is extraordinary, made even more so by the fact that Kurosawa was half blind when he made "Ran."

#4
Ikiru (1952)

"Ikiru" is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. The scene of Kanji Watanabe, played by the wonderful Takashi Shimura, swinging on a swing-set in the snow is one of the memorable pictures of all the films I have seen. The scene is used as the cover for Criterion's edition of "Ikiru." "Ikiru" tells the story of Watanabe, a bureaucrat who basically has spent his career doing nothing at all. When he is struck with an illness, he decides he needs to do something meaningful with his life. The song that Watanabe sings is so heartbreaking it will bring you to tears, but it is so memorable that I had it in my head for days after watching the film (and I have it my head now as I type this story). Honestly, I don't know if I have ever seen a more beautiful film. It also showed viewers that Kurosawa was not just a samurai film director, he was a filmmaker.

#3
Seven Samurai (1954)

This is Kurosawa's masterpiece. No film-lover's DVD collection is complete without a copy of "Seven Samurai" on their shelf. "Seven Samurai" is the story of a village terrorized by bandits. After a raid, a group of villagers sets out to find warriors that will defend them. What they come back with is a rag-tag group of Ronin (Samurais without a master) to defend them. This movie defines the word "epic." "Seven Samurai" is epic in vision, scope, acting, action, storytelling, everything you can think of. It is really that good. The final battle scene in the pouring rain is worth a viewing of the film all by itself. The film made such an impact on American audiences, that director John Sturges remade the film as the western, "The Magnificent Seven."

#2
Throne of Blood (1957)

This Kurosawa film is another Shakespeare adaptation. This time, the Master tackles my favorite of Shakespeare's plays, Macbeth. Tweaking this story in ways that only Kurosawa could do, he moves the film from medieval Scotland to medieval Japan. The always wonderful Toshiro Mifune plays Taketori Washizu, the over-ambitious warlord who kills his master in order to be the master. The more accurate title given to the film is "The Castle of the Spider's Web," which is actually a more fitting title, because that is what this story is. The story is a spider web that tangles the lead characters and captures them without release until their ultimate demise. "Throne of Blood" also does the same thing to its viewers, it does not let them go, especially because of Mifune's performance. He is hypnotic as the tragic lead. Watch the film's climax when hundreds of soldiers are shooting hundreds of arrows at Mifune's character. His fear is so real you would think they were really shooting at him (which they were!).

#1
High & Low (1963)

This is my favorite Kurosawa film of all time. If you have read my Top 10 Movies of All-time list, you have read a small portion of why I like it. "High & Low" is based on the American novel, "King's Ransom," by Ed McBain. It tells the story of a shoe company executive, Kingo Gondo (played by Toshiro Mifune), who on the day he decides that he is going to buy out his employer's company gets a phone call. The voice on the phone tells Gondo that he has Gondo's son and is holding him for ransom. Gondo will pay anything for his son, but when his son walks in the door he realizes a mistake has been made. The kidnapper has taken the son of Gondo's chauffeur. Will he pay the ransom now? The dilemma is that the amount of the ransom is near the amount that Gondo was going to use to buy out the shoe company. And to raise that buy-out money, Gondo has mortgaged everything he owns.

What makes this movie so cool is that it's really two movies. The first half follows Gondo as he fights with himself over whether or not to pay the ransom. The second half is an amazing detective story, following the police in their search for the kidnappers. The best part is watching Mifune's tortured performance. One minute you cry for Gondo, the next you want to slap sense into him. It is one of the greatest performances I've ever seen. Also, "High & Low" really showed the skill Kurosawa had for visuals as well. Kurosawa really utilizes the Japanese landscape; the downtown buildings, the coastal landscape and the rural farm areas just to name a few. "High & Low" is more than a fantastic thriller, it is a fantastic film.