I suppose all of my films have a common theme. If I think about it, though, the only theme I can think of is really a question: Why can’t people be happier together?
AKIRA KUROSAWAI suppose all of my films have a common theme. If I think about it, though, the only theme I can think of is really a question: Why can’t people be happier together?
AKIRA KUROSAWAI believe this is what the medieval Noh playwright and theorist Zeami meant by ‘watching with a detached gaze.’
AKIRA KUROSAWAIt’s easy to explain the psychological state of a character at a particular moment, but it’s very difficult to describe it through the delicate nuances of action and dialogue. Yet it is not impossible.
AKIRA KUROSAWAPage 61: No matter where I go in the world, although I can’t speak any foreign language.
AKIRA KUROSAWAThe truth is in the mystery.
AKIRA KUROSAWAI have no idea who the characters are, later, their personalities take over anything I might want to do.
AKIRA KUROSAWAYet pleasure in the work can’t be achieved unless you know you have put all of your strength into it and have done your best to make it come alive.
AKIRA KUROSAWAThe films an audience really enjoys are the ones that were enjoyable in the making.
AKIRA KUROSAWAThe great appeal of film is its relatability.
AKIRA KUROSAWAI end up writing not from my own will, but from theirs-they come alive as I write and make me do things that I couldn’t have planned.
AKIRA KUROSAWAMy films come from my need to say a particular thing at a particular time. The beginning of any film for me is this need to express something.
AKIRA KUROSAWAOne of techniques of modern art is simplification, and that I must therefore simplify this film.
AKIRA KUROSAWAI had wanted to make The Idiot long before Rashomon. Since I was little I’ve liked Russian literature, but I find that I like Dostoevsky the best and had long thought that this book would make a wonderful film.
AKIRA KUROSAWAIf I were to write anything at all, it would turn out to be nothing but talk about movies. In other words, take ‘myself,’ subtract ‘movies,’ and the result is ‘zero.’
AKIRA KUROSAWAHuman beings share the same common problems. A film can only be understood if it depicts these properly.
AKIRA KUROSAWAWith a good script a good director can produce a masterpiece; with the same script a mediocre director can make a passable film. But with a bad script even a good director can’t possibly make a good film.
AKIRA KUROSAWA