Kurosawan dreams

Akira Kurosawa, the filmmaker needs no introduction. The master craftsman has quite a large number of admirers from all over the world. The Japanese filmmaker and his cinema has been striking a chord with film students, movie lovers and laymen alike for many years. Among the list of filmmakers that I chanced upon to watch till this day, Kurosawa stands tall in my humble list of personal favourites. 

I followed most of his works untiringly in my college days and many a time I felt awestruck with his cinematic wisdom and aesthetic beauty. Here is a filmmaker who preached local stories and local characters with global meanings for a wider audience without missing out on its essence. Cinema is a difficult art to master and as Kurosawa puts it, he learned the nuances of filmmaking through his admirable levels of patience,  passion and dedication. He always considered him to be a student of cinema and possessed a child-like innocence when he was behind the camera. His cinematic ideas are layered with wisdom and simple but deep connotations.

Kurosawa is different from his contemporaries in many ways. He did not advocate for a particular style of filmmaking and was not voluntarily part of any film movements unlike his contemporaries from that era. He was a director who set the treatment of his film depending on the nature of the story. All his films stand unique while the Kurosawan touch stays intact. 

What struck me most is his efficient use of the medium to search for universal truth and absolute lies surrounding common people like us. For instance, a Kurosawan masterpiece, Rashomon is a grippingly made tale surrounding an incident and its various versions. His notable works - Seven Samurai, Dezu Ursala, Ikiru, Ran, Dreams and his last film, Madadayo encompass the Kurosawan way of living - a life rich in memories, devoid of worldly pleasures, the meaninglessness of wars and irrational arguments. Kurosawan films shared a Utopianness form of emotion (the perfect world) as he wanted people to go back to their roots and live a meaningful life. 

A philosopher-like figure, Kurosawan films encircle the teachings of Confucious and Gandhi not from a preachy or ideological sense but in a subtle and humane manner. 

My favourites

Three short films in his Hollywood anthology titled Dreams are my personal favourites. The Village in the watermill takes us through a beautiful village and a colourful celebration of death. The second short, Crows paints a poetic picture of beloved artist Vincent Van Gogh, a role played to perfection by legend filmmaker Martin Scorcese. The third one, Sunshine in the rain is a love letter to our childhood dreams and fallacies told using a story we all have heard while growing up. 

I enjoyed these short films but they met with a lukewarm response by critics and general audience alike. Sometimes, we immerse ourselves completely in a surreal experience which can evoke meaning to us but the other viewers may not see a film like how we see it. There is nothing wrong with it. Any artform grows when there are varied opinions. But some films are bitten to dust just because they did not make sense to the majority of the critics or to popular opinion. This (Dreams) was one such film. 

Kurosawa the man

Kurosawa was a tad slow, hard to understand and a complicated person as told by family members, journalists and movie personnel alike. The filmmaker in him had to brush aside many of his limitations to come forward and express his art in front of the public. Experienced folks may feel that if we have conviction, life will find a way to overcome obstacles and daily struggles, isn't it? 

Well, Kurosawa had the last laugh!The filmmaker in him emerged the winner and won millions of hearts . The human in him must have made a hearty smile if someone reminded him about his popularity.

Thank you for the memories, legend!