|
These DVD audio commentaries examine the film styles, themes and historical context of these key films by directors Akira Kurosawa and Sam Peckinpah. The commentaries are screen specific, keyed to the action unfolding on screen, but also contextualize the films and directors in terms of their essential cultural and aesthetic issues.
The DVD format is ideal for film criticism and commentary because it permits close attention to the texture and details of film narrative and audio-visual design.
In Ikiru (1952), Kurosawa examines the last days of a bureaucrat dying of cancer, and the commentary focuses on Kurosawa’s depiction of disease and his perspectives on Japan’s postwar economic and social recovery.
Ran (1985) is Kurosawa’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear, and the commentary examines the connections between film and play, along with Kurosawa’s use of Japan’s period of 16th century civil war as the backdrop for the story.
Red Beard (1965) is a story of doctors working in a public clinic during Japan’s Tokugawa era, and the commentary covers 18th century Japanese medical practices and Kurosawa’s use of the Tokugawa era as a means of commenting on contemporary Japan.
Stray Dog (1949) is a portrait of postwar Japan presented in the guise of a crime story, about a cop searching the ruined cities for a pistol thief. The commentary focuses on Kurosawa’s existential moral vision and the post-war conditions of collapse and recovery that he dramatizes.
Kagemusha (1980) is Kurosawa’s most exacting historical portrait of Japan’s 16th century samurai wars. The film examines the fate of the Takeda clan upon the death of its leader, Lord Shingen. The commentary focuses on Kurosawa’s use of the ancient records of the samurai wars to construct a poetic vision of the past and of our contemporary world.
Straw Dogs (1971) is Sam Peckinpah’s disturbing exploration of human violence, and the commentary discusses Peckinpah’s views on violence, the controversies that have surrounded the film, and Peckinpah’s intentions in making the picture.
Cross of Iron (1977) is Peckinpah’s portrait of the final days of the German army inside the Soviet Union during World War II. The commentary focuses on Peckinpah’s depictions of war and masculinity and on the history of the battles on the Taman Penninsula, the location for the film’s story.
Yojimbo (1961) and Sanjuro (1962) are among Kurosawa’s most popular samurai films, about the adventures of a satirically conceived super-samurai who is wonderfully portrayed by Toshiro Mifune. The commentaries contrast the themes and style of both pictures. Seven Samurai (1954) is Kurosawa’s best and best known film, a classic adventure set in Japan’s 16th century about a band of warriors defending a farming village from bandits. The commentary discusses Kurosawa’s storytelling skill and the film’s place in cinema history.
High and Low (1963) is Kurosawa’s masterful tale of blackmail and kidnapping, presented as an epic portrait of modern Japan. The commentary examines Kurosawa’s advocacy in the film of a revision in Japan’s laws surrounding kidnapping for ransom.
The Naked Prey (1966) is Cornel Wilde’s highly influential cult film about an African safari guide who is kidnapped by a band of warriors, stripped and sent into the bush, whereupon they hunt him like an animal. The commentary focuses on the film as a critical portrait of South Africa’s system of apartheid.
|
|
DVD Audio Commentaries by Stephen Prince |
