Geeking over film.
Mifune had a kind of talent I had never encountered before in the Japanese film world. It was, above all, the speed with which he expressed himself that was astounding. The ordinary Japanese actor might need ten feet of film to get across an impression; Mifune needed only three feet. The speed of his movements was such that he said in a single action what took ordinary actors three separate movements to express. He put forth everything directly and boldly, and his sense of timing was the keenest I had ever seen in a Japanese actor. And yet with all his quickness he also had surprisingly fine sensibilities.
I know it sounds as if I am overpraising Mifune, but everything I am saying is true. If pressed to find a defect in him as an actor, I could say his voice is a little rough, and when it’s recorded through a microphone it has a tendency to become difficult to understand. Anyway, I’m a person who is rarely impressed by actors, but in the case of Mifune I was completely overwhelmed.
Akira Kurosawa on Toshiro Mifune (April 1, 1920 - December 24, 1997)
Red Beard // dir. Akira Kurosawa
Red Beard // dir. Akira Kurosawa
On the set of High and Low.
High and Low // dir. Akira Kurosawa
On the set of Sanjuro.
Sanjuro // dir. Akira Kurosawa
Sanjuro // dir. Akira Kurosawa
![On the set of Yojimbo.
The story is so ideally interesting that it’s surprising no one else ever thought of it. The idea about rivalry on both sides, and both sides are equally bad. We all know what this is like. Here we are, weakly caught in the middle, and it is impossible to choose between evils. It was truly an enormous popular hit. Everyone at the company said it was because of the sword-fighting. But that is not so – the reason was the character of the hero and what he does. He is a real hero, he has a real reason for fighting. He doesn’t just stand by and wave his sword around.
- Akira Kurosawa [x]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0w1qe29cx1qf7r5lo1_1280.jpg)
On the set of Yojimbo.
The story is so ideally interesting that it’s surprising no one else ever thought of it. The idea about rivalry on both sides, and both sides are equally bad. We all know what this is like. Here we are, weakly caught in the middle, and it is impossible to choose between evils. It was truly an enormous popular hit. Everyone at the company said it was because of the sword-fighting. But that is not so – the reason was the character of the hero and what he does. He is a real hero, he has a real reason for fighting. He doesn’t just stand by and wave his sword around.
- Akira Kurosawa [x]
Yojimbo // dir. Akira Kurosawa
