Something Like An Autobiography

Essential book for a film maker to know how much a Auteur like Akira Kurosawa enjoyed the process.

its a must read for aspiring filmmakers. a beautiful life journey of a master director.

Loved first few pages

Received in proper package.

Read this and you would have watched Kurosawa’s life up to 1950 shot in black and white film unfold right in your head with great emotional intensity

Must read for film enthusiasts especially, Kurosawa's. Nice read for those otherwise too. Quite a bit to understand on growing up in Japan from a first person perspective and without the usual stereotyping.

I like everything about this book and Akira Kurosawa

It is a brilliant book.I received it in perfect condition.No Problemo.

Muy bueno, introspectivo y nada tedioso

Arrived in time. This is one of the best autobiography book ever I read. Recommended to everyone.

Pre-war Japan is a very foreign country, and this book gives a bit of insight into the culture. It illuminates Kurosawa's work and shows where he's coming from.

Purchased used - good from Blue Cloud Books for $0.94 plus $3.99 shipping. Very happy with the condition of the book. The Kindle edition seems a good price at $9.99. but I prefer the actual book in hand. The book is an autobiography of sorts written in 1982, in the waning years of Kurosawa's life and career. It seems it was dictated to another person since it follows a train of thought progression. Either that or Kurosawa penned it this way. Either way, there is a purity to the storytelling that feels as if the reader is sitting across from the director, conversing over tea. A lot of the book focuses on his early life, and the reader empathizes greatly with the young Kurosawa. There was much tragedy in his young life, both within his family, but also with the nation of Japan during the years leading up to and including the war. Much of his early career was spent trying to work on and create good films while appeasing the Japanese censors. Then post war, the American military was censoring the films. The guy couldn't win! A lot of the book also praises a lot of the directors, actors, and staff that Kurosawa worked for or worked with. He gives somber praise to his predecessors, especially his mentor, Kajiro Yamamoto. Kurosawa is very self deprecating at times, looking back and considering his actions at the time or decisions he made in his youth. But with those he admired, he gives credit where credit is due. Which is not to say this is a look back in regret. Instead Kurosawa touches on times, events, and emotions from the past. His laments are brief and heartfelt. In a few chapters he admits that he had a fiery temper, so he often writes about regret at letting his anger get the better of him. This isn't truly a look at Kurosawa's films, but instead a look at his life and the events surrounding his career. I would say this is not the same style of biography as Bergmann's "A Life in Film" which focuses on the films themselves. Much of this book also touches on the events surrounding life in Japan during Kurosawa's life. We feel the horror he felt after the great Kanto earthquake or the helplessness of the life of an artist leading up to World War 2. We sense that his films had depth and impact because Kurosawa worked so hard to get results during such trying times. It is a testament to his stubbornness, ambition, and dedication that he was able to craft the best films of his career during these times (pre-war, during war, and post-war). If you are a fan of Kurosawa and want to know more about the life and mind of this genius director, then this is a wonderful book to read. If you are expecting a point by point synopsis of his films, there are better texts out there (often much more expensive), such as 'The Films of Kurosawa' by Donald Richie (which is excellent by the way!).

A startlingly honest and wonderfully detailed account of the beginnings of AK's life and early career. He paints a warts and all self-portrait, almost a confessional at times:from open and honest stories about his childhood, then onwards to the successes and failures of the earliest films in his oeuvre. It is all achieved with a guile-less charm, wit and perception, and entirely lacking pomposity or self-deception. He has a justifiable go every so often at critics and other filmmakers who misread his work, and he is utterly honest in assessing his own successes and failures. Even when it's not specifically about his film-making, the book is a marvellous reminder of how the most apparently small insignificant incidents in life can be grist to the mill of a great artist. When the big stuff happens- the great Kanto earthquake of his childhood, the war in the Pacific when he was starting out as a director, his memories are described with the vivid detail of a great screenwriter as well as director. All this is enhanced by a fine translation from Audie Bock, who, like Donald Ritchie before her, was as close to Kurosawa as any westerner could be.