When it comes to Japanese directors, the first thing that comes to mind for many people is Akira Kurosawa. I have to admit that as a japanese director with a worldwide reputation, Akira Kurosawa's works have influenced directors from countless other countries.
But in my opinion, Akira Kurosawa's success is also inseparable from the Japanese actors he has worked with. It is their superb acting skills that have successfully interpreted the ideas that Akira Kurosawa wants to convey perfectly. Among them, the most impressive is Toshiro Mifune, who has worked with Akira Kurosawa 16 times.
Many people may not know who Toshiro Mifune is, but mentioning the samurai in Rashomon, Kikuchiyo in Seven Samurai, and Sanjuro in "Heart Stick", everyone has the impression that these characters are all played by Toshiro Mifune.
He has played a rough and very naughty character in these films, and his acting is very explosive, even if it is a little exaggerated, it will not make the audience feel jumping. But in fact, he is a completely different image in "Wild Dogs", "Heaven and Hell", "Red Beard", and such a role also shows us another kind of acting skills.
Some people even joke that the Japanese actors who are well known to the world after World War II are Godzilla and Mifune Toshiro.
In fact, Mifune Toshiro and China have an indissoluble relationship, in 1920, Mifune Toshiro was born in Qingdao, Shandong, he lived in Dalian until the age of 20. His father, a Japanese expatriate who came to Work in China, opened a photo studio in Dalian. In order to attract business, he often let his son be his model, which is why Toshiro Mifune has so many photos of his childhood.
However, at the age of 20, like other young Japanese people, he was recalled to Japan for military service. Because he had the skills to take photographs, he was assigned to the photography department and was responsible for taking aerial photos. According to his son's recollection, Toshiro Mifune often lamented the cruelty of war and hated it for destroying many people's families and lives.
Later, Toshiro Mifune was assigned to the Task Force, where he often took care of the very young baby soldiers and hoped they would survive.
After the end of World War II, Toshiro Mifune returned to Tokyo almost empty-handed. Because he was good at photography, he applied for a job as a photojournalist assistant in Toho Photography. As a result, at the time of the interview, he did not pass the interview review because his performance did not meet the requirements of Toho Photography.
Perhaps because of the misfortune, he was unexpectedly favored by Akira Kurosawa for acting and has since entered the film world. Akira Kurosawa once mentioned in her autobiography that Miss Hideko Takayama at that time happened to be one of the interviewers of Toshiro Mifune, and she admired Toshiro Mifune very much, and deliberately ran to Akira Kurosawa's side and told him that this person was very suitable for acting and deserved his attention.
In Kurosawa's eyes, Toshiro Mifune is a unique genius in the Japanese film industry, and he enters the drama very quickly. Ordinary actors may need to use ten skills when performing, but Toshiro Mifune uses three points of skill to show it; ordinary actors need three actions to express emotions, then Toshiro Mifune can use one action.
Kurosawa also said that no matter what the role, Mifune Toshiro can perform very clean and sharp, which he has never seen in other actors, and Mifune Toshiro's control of emotions is also surprising.
In 1948, Toshiro Mifune entered the public eye with the movie "Muddy Angel" and was well known to the audience.
Subsequently, he won the Golden Lion Award and the Silver Lion Award at the Venice International Film Festival for his films Rashomon and The Seven Samurai. He then won two Venice Film Awards for Best Actor for his superb acting skills in "Red Beard" and "Heart Stick".
All over the world, in addition to Akira Kurosawa, other people also have a high opinion and appreciation for Toshiro Mifune. Steven Spielberg, a well-known director who has worked with Toshiro Mifune, once said that Toshiro Mifune is irreplaceable and unique in the world, and even though many actors are learning and imitating him, no one can become an actor like him.
Although Toshiro Mifune and Akira Kurosawa chose to part ways for some unknown reasons, we cannot deny that without Akira Kurosawa, Toshiro Mifune would not have become a world-renowned Japanese actor.
It was through his many collaborations with Akira Kurosawa that Toshiro Mifune was able to quickly become a superstar known to women and children in Japan. And the films they have worked on have left a strong mark on the world film world.
There are many opinions about the reasons for Akira Kurosawa's break with Toshiro Mifune. Some people say that it is because in "Red Beard", Toshiro Mifune's acting skills are not satisfied with Akira Kurosawa; some people say that it is because Toshiro Mifune later shifted his focus to overseas careers and alienated Akira Kurosawa; others believe that it is because Toshiro Mifune is filming "Tiger! tiger! tiger! After that, what he said in the media hurt Akira Kurosawa.
However, despite all the speculation, the two never had a clear response to the matter. However, Japanese actress Saeki once said in a documentary that sometimes Toshiro Mifune would drive to kurosawa's door after getting drunk and call the other party stupid.
Toshiro Mifune and Akira Kurosawa last met at Honta's funeral in 1993. Toshiro Mifune, who had been tortured by various diseases at the time, had to endure the discomfort and insisted on being in the funeral procession, and Kurosawa Akira came forward to inquire about Toshiro Mifune's health. Toshiro Mifune replied that his body didn't matter.
Four years later, Toshiro Mifune died on December 24, 1997, and Akira Kurosawa died on August 6 of the following year.