I dont care what you say or what you think, Akira Kurosawa is by far the most inspirational director of all time. For god sakes this is the man who influenced George Lucas to make Star Wars (The Hidden Fortress). Need I say more? The theme from Seven Samurai has been taken and used over and over again in some many movies. There are more remakes and refrences to this mans movies then anybody elses. From The Magnificent Seven to its countless sequels. To his line up of Yojimbo and Sanjuro inspired the greates western triolgy ever, The Man With No Name. He would take the ordinary story that everybody new and put a entirely new twist on it. Just the eye this man had for cinema. The visuals in his films are always so perfect. And he always relies on character theme and setting, rather then dialouge to tell his story. My favorite film besides Seven Samurai, is Throne of Blood. Eventually every movie this artist has made, will get the great Criterion treatment. Go to there website right now, Akira Kurosawa has more movies in the collection then any other person. He was the best and always will be, and I feel that almost everybody on here will agree with me.
its a shame not many people know about it. and its a shame that his movies are so hardly accessible in some parts of the world. i dont think they are even available on DVD here in Germany
Most influential director ever? I doubt it. I honestly couldn’t provide a clear cut answer as to WHO is the most influential director of all time, because, quite frankly, there isn’t a clear cut answer. I mean, Kurosawa had to be influenced by someone, right? And by virtue of influencing Kurosawa, wouldn’t that unnamed or uknown director truely be the most influential director of all time? See what I mean?
I’ll definitely agree that he is definitely one of the most influential directors of all time, and far and away the best director to ever come out of Japan and asia. Hands down.
[quote]its a shame not many people know about it. and its a shame that his movies are so hardly accessible in some parts of the world. i dont think they are even available on DVD here in Germany[/quote]
Seb, I have some japanese DVD (jap with english subs). If you want, i can send them to you.
This man is such a great director! Definatly. I think that everyone on this board will agree to the fact that he is an absolutly great director. One of the best.
My only problem with him is to decide which movie I love the most ;D ;D
Whenever I saw Seven Samurais, I thought, yes, this is my fav, but then I saw Rashomon and thought, this is my fav....
Question: Sorry but my english... B Rocka used the word inspirational and Puck anserwed with the word influential. Is there a difference in english between the both words - for me it is.
[quote]Most influential director ever?  I doubt it.  I honestly couldn’t provide a clear cut answer as to WHO is the most influential director of all time, because, quite frankly, there isn’t a clear cut answer.  I mean, Kurosawa had to be influenced by someone, right?  And by virtue of influencing Kurosawa, wouldn’t that unnamed or uknown director truely be the most influential director of all time?  See what I mean? ÂÂ
I’ll definitely agree that he is definitely one of the most influential directors of all time, and far and away the best director to ever come out of Japan and asia.  Hands down.  [/quote]
Well, unless later directors took more direct inspiration from Kurosawa than whoever influenced/inspired him. It's really hard to say who is the most influential- many people would say Kurosawa, Truffaut, Hitchcock, Kubrick, Leone, etc. But if you are going by who started it all, then it would most likely be D.W. Griffith for his silent epics and him being considered the greatest pioneer/auteur in film.
Well, I wouldn’t say Kurosawa is THE most influencial director ever, but he is one of the most influencial directors next to Jean-Luc Godard, Alfred Hitchcock, Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.
[quote]
Well, unless later directors took more direct inspiration from Kurosawa than whoever influenced/inspired him. It’s really hard to say who is the most influential- many people would say Kurosawa, Truffaut, Hitchcock, Kubrick, Leone, etc. But if you are going by who started it all, then it would most likely be D.W. Griffith for his silent epics and him being considered the greatest pioneer/auteur in film.[/quote]
word. I mean, Kurosawa is pretty old, but he too got inspired by others. but the point is, that Kurosawa made movies that were just new and innovative and got copied over and over again (yojimbo, 7 samurai…), and that makes him influencial.
as for DW Griffith. Yeah. Hell yeah. Filmmakers of his caliber were the founding fathers of cinema and of course they are influencial.
I have yet to see some of those films
[quote]
Question: Sorry but my english… B Rocka used the word inspirational and Puck anserwed with the word influential. Is there a difference in english between the both words - for me it is.
[/quote]
There is a difference. Read the topic title again. Thats what I’m responding to. 
…cough … cough… okay…done… I read it again and now I wait for an explaining hour! hehehe Puck, can you explain the difference? ;D ;D ;D ;D please 
I agree that Hitchcock and others were very inspirational, but not nearlly as Kurosawa. How often do you see entire Hitchcock movies remade, with the exception of Psycho? It’s true, Kurosawa did draw inspiration from early silent films. But if you read up on him, most of his inspirations were not from film at all. His biggest one was Shakespeare. He drew ideas and images from everyday things. This man could turn an ordinary shot of mountains, into a picture that without words tells a perfect story. I agree with everybody here that there are many directors that have influenced like Kurosawa. But I will forever stand by my opinion that Kurosawa was the greatest of all time.
My two cents.
Kurosawa was more influencial with storylines and plot then this actual films. I don’t feel inspired to go out and make a movie after watching Rashomon, but the plot, has been used in so many other films.
I may come off kinda weird but I really don’t think that Kurosawa is the most influencial director of all time, just one of the most highly respected and sought-for.
I think Kurosawa is highly influential in terms of being a director as well as a writer. Rashomon is cannon at all of the major filmschools. After renting the criterion dvd of it, I listened to the interview at the begining and noticed that the shot of the trees from underneath has been used in a ton of movies. I can’t think of them all right now, but I know Miller’s Crossing by the Coens definitely took some Kurosawa shots.
[quote]My two cents.
Kurosawa was more influencial with storylines and plot then this actual films. I don’t feel inspired to go out and make a movie after watching Rashomon, but the plot, has been used in so many other films.
[/quote]
Then you’re not a filmmaker. Period. As said above, so many of his shots have been used in other movies. He inspires you so much and you dont know it.
Damn right I’m not a filmaker, that was my two cents (opinion if you are that stupid) on the film. I don’t give two shits about your conjectures saying he’s the greatest and most influencial and whatnot, but that was my opinion.
Sorry if I made you wet your pants about being so wrongfully opinionated.
I advise you stop fighting before the fight stops, we don’t want seb to lock the topic… :-/
Before I get yelled at by either of you, NEITHER of you did anything wrong, it’s just if I know how thing’s work on message boards, a fight is about to break loose…
True words…
yeah guys chill out. opinions are like assholes, everybody has one. but thats not a reason to fight over
Someone shoots at me, I shoot back. You all know that, especially some arrogant shit like what he said.
So fuck him, I’m not “fighting” anyone, he can post back with any poorly written insult he wants, but in the end, I don’t fuckin care about him and his opinions on Kurosawa.
B_Rocka kurosawa’s hidden fortress really didnt inspire star wars. in a interview with gorge lucas he sad he was just getting into forgin films when he writing star wars. the only think he took from that was that the story was told from the ‘‘lowest’’ charectors in the movie. the pesents in hidden fortress and the robots in star wars and it just happend that both had a princes in them.
and i think that kurosawa is the most influncial director to the film makers in the last 30 years in film.
[quote]Damn right I’m not a filmaker, that was my two cents (opinion if you are that stupid) on the film. I don’t give two shits about your conjectures saying he’s the greatest and most influencial and whatnot, but that was my opinion.
Sorry if I made you wet your pants about being so wrongfully opinionated.[/quote]
I wasnt trying to be a dickhead when I said that. I didnt mean for it to come off like that. I was simply stating that he does not inspire you to go out and make films becaue thats not ur thing. I was just trying to make a long explaination short thats it. I was simply saying that he is inspiring from a FILMMAKERS point of view. Firstly, I respect your opinion. If I didnt i wouldnt have started a topic for debate in the firsy place. Secondly, there’s no need to start using childish names and shit. I didnt say anything to you like that. You dont see me sitting here saying “you’re a fuckin idiot for not agreeing with me. Why dont u run ur bitch ass home and cry to ur mommy.” That shit sounds so immature and stupid. We’re all better then that. I apologize if you took my reply the wrong way, it was not meant as offense. Problem solved. No more name calling.