| Overall Grade: |
B |
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| Story: |
B |
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|
| Acting: |
B- |
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|
| Direction: |
B |
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|
| Visuals: |
B+ |
|
|
Debut of an autuer
by Keith F (movies profile)
Dec 7, 2004
Kurosawa's first released film, and already one can discern the seeds of some of the techniques that would make him famous. Shot in B&W (naturally, for the WWII era), most fo the sets are fairly stark and simple, but only rarely appear to be sets despite the war-time economy. At a superficial level, the general story arc here is virtually the same as every kung-fu movie ever made, but closer inspection reveals a depth of subtlety and emotion absent from the formula films of his imitators (also, no wood-block sound effects). Though hampered somewhat by the demands of the Japanese equivalent of the MPAA, Kurosawa refused to make this into a propaganda piece. |
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