The North Film Festival has been opening for many days. This annual carnival of literary and artistic young men and women, as in previous years, has attracted countless hot discussions and complaints from fans. Every year, after watching the film, I complained that this year's film can save us money, however, when the time for grabbing tickets on the hour arrives, the popular movies are also seconds.
This year, in the unit that pays tribute to the classics, Akira Kurosawa has earned everyone's attention. "Rashomon", "Shadow Warrior", "Toshiro Mifune", "Chaos", "Wilderness Prostitute", let the fans have enough addiction. Theaters were full, and fans spontaneously voted for the top 10 most popular films, with Akira Kurosawa's Shadow Warrior ranking fifth with an average score of 4.75. In the film festival of good films, it is very remarkable to achieve such results and rankings in the face of fans with sharp tastes and strong critical eyes.
Whether in the history of Japanese cinema or in the history of world cinema, Akira Kurosawa is a legend, a genius, and a character who cannot be bypassed. Some film critics put it this way: "If film history is like a big tree, then many filmmakers are branches, and Kurosawa Akira belongs to the stem." ”
That's right, Akira Kurosawa is inextricably linked to many gods in the film industry. Let's hear about this legendary god in the eyes of others.
Miyazaki said, "Without Seven Samurai, there would be no Princess Mononoke. ”
Spielberg said: "Akira Kurosawa is my initiator, the Shakespeare of the film industry."
Coppola, the director of "The Godfather," said: "If he could make a movie with Akira Kurosawa, he would rather be an assistant.
Márquez said: "Only Akira Kurosawa can adapt 'One Hundred Years of Solitude'. After Akira Kurosawa's death, Márquez refused to make the famous book into a movie.
"Star Wars" director George Lucas also copied Akira Kurosawa, the prototype of Princess Leah in "Star Wars" is actually Yukihime in "Sengoku Heroes", and the robots C-3PO and R2-D2 obviously imitate the tall and short farmers Nanachi and Ota.
Akira Kurosawa designated Takeshi Kitano as his successor. On his deathbed, Akira Kurosawa wrote to Takeshi Kitano asking him to continue the tradition of Japanese cinema. Takeshi Kitano regarded this letter as the most precious gift of his life.
In this way, Akira Kurosawa is really an insurmountable mountain.
In 1951, Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. This is the first Asian film to win an Oscar, and he himself became the first Asian director to win the Oscar Lifetime Achievement Award, becoming a world-renowned international director.
In this film festival, you can see works such as "Rashomon", "Shadow Warrior", "Wilderness Prostitute" and so on.
Throughout his work, Akira Kurosawa is particularly adept at using costume films to show intricate plots. Most of his films are set in the Sengoku period to the Edo period in Japan. For example, "Seven Samurai" and "Shadow Warrior" are set in the Warring States Period, and "Rashomon" is based on the Heian period.
There is a thing that runs through Kurosawa's films, that is, the struggle between good and evil, beauty and ugliness. He believed that all evil in the world had power, and that good sometimes had power and sometimes lacked power. The reason why evil can be so arrogant and so rampant is because good has no power, space hole. Kurosawa hated it, but he also hated the weak goodness. He believed that such goodness was a breeding ground for nourishing evil. What he shows in the film is a powerful goodness, something he has sung all his life.
Take "Shadow Warrior" at this year's North Film Festival, the film tells the story of Japan's Sengoku period, Takeda Shingen defeated the alliance of Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu, but suddenly fell ill and died in the army. At a critical juncture, a courtier followed Xinxuan's instructions and secretly found a thief with a face resembling Xinxuan pretending to be Xinxuan to stabilize the hearts of the army and maintain the story for three years.
During the three years of disguise, this stand-in wore Takeda Shingen's clothes every day, and sat in Takeda Shingen's position every time he fought, and slowly, a kind of power arose in his body, and he changed from passive choice at the beginning to active fusion, and he slowly became Takeda Shingen. He was as brave as Takeda Shingen, fighting hard and commanding battles. This is a powerful goodness that Akira Kurosawa admires, which is the most touching thing in the movie of this genius master.
See the shadow of Akira Kurosawa, the city of the shadow warriors
Akira Kurosawa's film is full of history, and this building can be seen in the film. You've enjoyed these movies in Beijing, and if you're visiting Japan in April and May when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom, you can stop by those ancient cities to see and get a feel for Akira Kurosawa from a distance.
In the film, Takeda Shingen was unable to capture Matsumoto Castle, but the historical Takeda Shingen not only captured Matsumoto Castle in Nagano Prefecture and incorporated it into the takeda clan's domain, but also expanded on a large scale on the basis of the original, forming a more spectacular and strong castle. Matsumoto Castle is also the only complex of connected castle keeps in Japan. If you want to follow the footsteps of Akira Kurosawa, you can go to Matsumoto Castle to see the jingo iron horses on the historical battlefield.
Matsumoto Castle is one of the five national treasure castles in Japan, and there are 12 existing ancient cities in Japan, five of which are listed as national treasure castles. The other four castles are Himeji Castle, Hikone Castle, Inuyama Castle, Matsumoto Castle, and Matsue Castle. All five national treasure castles preserve the original castle keep. The castle keep structure is the symbol of the Castle of the Sengoku period in Japan, consisting of two to five floors, and is a strong defensive fortress. In wartime, it is the commander's tower of the lord of the city, the final place to die, and in peacetime it is a symbol of the lord's power. Known as "Japan's First City", Himeji Castle is the pinnacle of ancient Japanese defensive architecture, and many period dramas and movies were filmed here.
So, what is the historical significance of Japan's city culture? What other directors can we trace Japanese folk culture under the lens of which directors? What other landmarks in Japan are worth a stop at?
Columnist
The famous writer, scholar, and in-depth experience of Japanese culture, Mr. Shibu-an, has traveled to Japan 32 times in seven years and has lived in almost 47 prefectures in Japan. In 2018, he published "Travel Diary", which triggered a new round of domestic Japanese tourism climax.
Shinan believes that travel can be divided into two modes: one is to go to a completely unknown place, and it may not need to do too much intellectual preparation, just go there to see it, such as Antarctica; the other, although the place has not been, but has known and understood some in advance. In Shinan's view, Japan belongs to this category. The place is not too big, and there are many things you can prepare and may also need to prepare. For example, if you've read some of their writers' books, watched some of their movies, and so on, maybe the trip will be bigger, at least not missing something. This kind of travel, Shu-an uses four words to summarize: there is a period and encounter.
With such a heart, Shinan walks everywhere in Japan, from the bustling Tokyo, Osaka, and Yokohama to the japanese countryside trails... Shi-an feels and tastes the culture, art, and folk customs of the country.
Finally, 32 trips to Japan, with the dragonfly FMX Triptych Middle Reading jointly launched the "Japan Literature and Art Travel Map" audio program, which is also the first audio program of Teacher Shinan, with 18 sessions of time to take you to walk nearly 100 Japanese literary and artistic landmarks, visit 27 unmissable Japanese literary and artistic masters, and explore their life footprints, works or yamakawa castles under the lens.
Shibu-an will accompany you to the Izu Peninsula to follow the footsteps of Yasunari Kawabata's Izumai, go to The Nihonbashi Renocho, where Detective Keigo Higashino goes every day, find the real-life version of Yuba's "Oil House", experience human disqualification in the place where Dazai Osamu lived and died, stroll through the sea near Tokyo under Kore-eda's lens, and also follow Ozu Yasujiro to see the Kamakura Daisen, and go to the ChizakiKan to stay for one night in the room where Ozu wrote the script. Finally, we went to Kaneko Meiling's hometown together to see her nursery rhyme written on the door of the neighbor's house...
This is a tour of the Holy Land, and it is also a sincere work of The Temple. Let's experience the beauty of Japanese literature and poetry, appreciate the temperament of Japanese cinema, and feel the development of Japanese manga, while stepping out of a "most Japanese" healing travel map.
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