Kurosawa Diary, Part 30: Madadayo

August 30, 2010 ~ Lincoln Spector

And so I come to Akira Kurosawa’s last film, made five years before he died. When I watched Madadayo last night at the Pacific Film Archive, I completed my journey through all of Kurosawa’s works in (mostly) chronological order. That same screening also ended the PFA’s own, non-chronological retrospective of the same 30 films. Madadayo … Continue reading Kurosawa Diary, Part 30: Madadayo

The Clay Remains Open

August 30, 2010August 30, 2010 ~ Lincoln Spector

I just received the following press release from Landmark Theaters: 30 August, 2010 - Landmark Theatres announces that they have come to an agreement with the landlord of San Francisco’s Clay Theatre to remain open for the short term. "We hope continuing operation at the Clay will give all interested parties the opportunity to pursue … Continue reading The Clay Remains Open

PFA Coming Attractions

August 29, 2010 ~ Lincoln Spector

I’ve had the new September/October Pacific Film Archive schedule for a few days now. I’m finally getting around to telling you about it. From my point of view, the most interesting series on the schedule is Shakespeare on Screen, running for the entire two months. It contains some obvious choices (Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet, Olivier’s … Continue reading PFA Coming Attractions

Kurosawa Diary, Part 29: Rhapsody in August

August 26, 2010 ~ Lincoln Spector

Little actually happens in Akira Kurosawa’s 29th and penultimate film, Rhapsody in August, and nothing really bad. Something horrendous happened 45 years earlier (the atom bombing of Nagasaki), but that’s ancient history. It’s time for Japan and America to forgive and, if not forget, then to honor the memory together. Six years after the devastatingly … Continue reading Kurosawa Diary, Part 29: Rhapsody in August

Kurosawa Diary, Part 28: Dreams

August 25, 2010 ~ Lincoln Spector ~ 1 Comment

Warner Brothers called this film Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams when they released it in 1990. The name is appropriate, and not only because Kurosawa wrote and directed the film. The eight vignettes that make up his only anthology feature are, allegedly, based on Kurosawa’s own dreams. I was recovering from a herniated disc, and under doctor’s … Continue reading Kurosawa Diary, Part 28: Dreams

The Death of the Clay

August 24, 2010 ~ Lincoln Spector

My posts have been very Kurosawa, lately. That’s understandable as my Kurosawa Diary and the Pacific Film Archive’s Akira Kurosawa Centennial series come simultaneously to an end. But I figured I needed to write something about the death of Landmark’s Clay Theatre. In case you haven’t heard, the Clay, which may be the only remaining … Continue reading The Death of the Clay

Kurosawa Diary, Part 27: Ran

August 23, 2010September 7, 2010 ~ Lincoln Spector ~ 1 Comment

I doubt anyone else ever made a movie as sad, as tragic, as despairing of the human condition, and yet so beautiful as Akira Kurosawa’s Ran. To give yourself over to it is to experience, in your gut, that many people are capable of unspeakable evil, that these people tend to come out on top, … Continue reading Kurosawa Diary, Part 27: Ran

Kurosawa Diary, Part 26: Kagemusha

August 20, 2010September 7, 2010 ~ Lincoln Spector ~ 1 Comment

When I started my project of watching every Kurosawa film in the order they were made, the first question I asked myself was “Even Kagemusha?” It wasn’t that his big Coppola-and-Lucas spectacle was his worst film (it isn’t). But unlike the other bad ones I’d seen, I had revisited this one on DVD—seeing the full … Continue reading Kurosawa Diary, Part 26: Kagemusha