Kurosawa, Akira (1910-1998)

Japanese director. He is known for his adaptation of elements of Nō theatre into film, as well as his historical and literary adaptations. His film Rashōmon (1950), which won an honorary Academy Award in 1952, introduced Western audiences to Japanese cinema. Epics such as Shichinin no samurai/Seven Samurai (1954) combined spectacle with intimate human drama, and were hugely influential on Western cinema.

Kurosawa's films with a contemporary setting include Yoidore tenshi/Drunken Angel (1948) and Ikiru/Living (1952), both using illness as metaphor. Literary adaptations include Kumonosu-Jo/Throne of Blood (1957; from Shakespeare's play Macbeth), Donzoko/The Lower Depths (1957; from Maxim Gorky's play The Lower Depths), and Ran/Chaos (1985; from Shakespeare's play King Lear). Yōjimbō (1961) and Kagemusha (1981) are historical films with an increasingly bleak outlook. Later films include Dreams (1990), Rhapsody in August (1991), and Madadayo (1993).

Kurosawa initially studied art, and received many awards for his painting before becoming a film director. He joined the PCL cinema studio in 1936 and made his first feature film, Sanshiro Sugata, in 1943.