Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa, 1950)

8/10
The second of the two Kurosawa films showing I had yet to see (Yojimbo and Seven Samurai were the other two), this one was pretty different from the others on the program. I wasn't sure how much I was going to enjoy it but I got into it. The happy/uplifting ending felt a little tacked on...up to that point the movie was crushingly depressing and I wouldn't have been surprised maybe there was some studio meddling to add the bit about the baby to lighten things up. I'm choosing to ignore it and focusing on how good the rest of the film was.

Sanjuro (Akira Kurosawa, 1962)

8/10
Liked it a lot; it's fun(ny) how scenes like the one with Sanjuro tied up and still outsmarting his 3 watchers are reproduced practically verbatim even today. I don't think Kurosawa's influence on contemporary cinema can ever be overstated. I didn't like it as much as Yojimbo, its "companion piece", and it was a little slow in the middle, but the ending scene made up for everything - really blew my mind and genuinely startled me.

High and Low (Akira Kurosawa, 1963)

8/10
High and Low is clearly divided into three acts - the first act focuses on the moral struggle of Gondo, forced into paying a ransom for his chauffeur's son. It seems very much of the theatre - virtually all the action takes place in the living room, with a small cast of characters as the issue is dissected from all sides. I enjoyed this act quite a bit - it's certainly an interesting dilemma for the viewer himself to struggle with as he watches the film.
The second act shifts into a police prodecural. Aside from the brilliantly-shot sequence on the train that opens this section, I thought this was easily the film's weakest moment. It could definitely have been trimmed down. But I did enjoy the double meaning the title takes on as they search high and low for the kidnapper.
The third act is the sting the cops set up to nail the kidnapper, and the best of the three, if only because it's so unexpected - chasing a scarred kidnapper with mirrored sunglasses and a carnation in his pocket through drugged-out slums and fast-moving clubs seems like something out of a Seijun Suzuki movie and not something you'd immediately associate with someone like Kurosawa. It definitely made the film that much more endearing to me.

Dersu Uzala (Akira Kurosawa, 1975)

7.5/10
I missed most of the "classic" Kurosawa during the local repertory cinema's centennial tribute but I was at least able to catch Dersu Uzala last night (and hopefully Kagemusha on Sunday). The film tells the story of a Russian soldier named Arseniev and his friendship with mountain man Dersu Uzala, whom he meets while mapping the Russian forests and mountains. Essentially an odd couple road/journey movie, there isn't a whole lot new from a narrative perspective, but the film succeeds because of the chemistry between the two leads, and the movie's stunning cinematography and direction. At 144 minutes, the premise feels slightly stretched (much of Dersu and Arseniev's second meeting is just a restaging of events that occured in their first trek together) but it's such a beautiful film to look at, it's hard to really care too much.

Yojimbo (Akira Kurosawa, 1961)

8/10
I'm a big fan of A Fistful of Dollars, so of course I'd like the movie it was based on. I didn't really realize just how closely based on it it was until I saw Yojimbo...only the second Kurosawa movie I've seen (after Seven Samurai) and I liked both a good deal. Ran is up next on my long list of Kurosawa flicks to watch.