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My school's got a new 'creative' period and I thought I'd like to show some Kurosawa movies and their descendants to the kids. Any ideas from this august body? I only know a little and haven't seen any (we're supposed to be learning too...), so I'm open to any advice on structure. I mean, I certainly get that I show 7 Samurai and then Magnificent 7, maybe Hidden Fortress and Star Wars, but is there anything a film buff could shed light on?

Star Wars heavily borrowed from I-think-it-was Hidden Fortress. Don't know if kids still dig Star Wars.

Which Magnificent Seven are you thinking of using? I can see using the new one, but kids might think of the original as something their grandpa sleeps through on a Sunday afternoon.

Another option might be to do The Glass Key, Yojimbo, and Fistful of Dollars.

Ran is King Lear. It's long, one of his only color films (if not the only) but not his best work.
Throne of Blood is Macbeth.

Yojimbo & Sanjuro would be more approachable than Seven Samurai, although that is The Classic Kurosawa. You can show the Western Fistful of Dollars, with Clint, and Last Man Standing (both based on Yojimbo), with Bruce Willis.

To class it up, show Throne of Blood.

As a negative example you could show 7 Samurai and Adam Sandler's Netflix movie The Ridiculous 6. It's part of his Netflix movie deal and is very popular despite being horrible. Since it's playing right now, it's easily accessible.

I've gotten to where I hate Adam Sandler. A buddy of mine was talking about how he loved Sandler's movies which led me to question his intellect.

Thanks everyone. Cool ideas and I'm looking forward to it.

I agree about Sandler. Getting a little old, in more ways than one.

The Sandler thing isn't mysterious
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/adam_sandler/

johno wrote:Yojimbo & Sanjuro would be more approachable than Seven Samurai, although that is The Classic Kurosawa. You can show the Western Fistful of Dollars, with Clint, and Last Man Standing (both based on Yojimbo), with Bruce Willis.

To class it up, show Throne of Blood.

You cannot go wrong with these. Pure genius. Throne of Blood is amazing.

What class is this for? Film? English? Creative Writing?

Not to take away from this discussion or get off topic, but I was briefly an English teacher. Some of you are probably laughing at my grammar and spelling...

If you are set on Kurosawa, that's cool. Kurosawa is awesome, but I am not an expert on the subject matter.

I used to use things like excerpts from "Save the Cat" by Blake Snyder, and "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" by Joseph Campbell to show my classes that human beings keep telling the same stories over and the relating a classic to a movie that they like or is currently popular. For Instance (luckily my class was high school seniors and were allowed to watch these movies), I had a lesson about how Jaws, Alien and Theseus and the Minotaur are all essentially the same story. BTW, the books do almost all the work for you.

If you can make them read a book, start with Dashiell Hammett's 'Red Harvest,' then show Yojimbo, then Last Man Standing - an American crime classic reinterpreted by a Japanese man then re-reinterpreted by an American.

If you're not heavily invested in Kurosawa alone, one of the best classes I took in college was an intro to film writing class that doubled as an intro to classic/world cinema. This was pre-Netflix/etc., obviously, and the first time I got to see Citizen Kane, screwball comedies and then-relatively obscure film noir like Kiss Me Deadly (along with Bergman and neorealism, etc.).

It would blow the kids minds to find out how modern Citizen Kane is or how well the jokes in It Happened One Night work 70+ years later.

tonkadtx wrote:What class is this for? Film? English? Creative Writing?

Not to take away from this discussion or get off topic, but I was briefly an English teacher. Some of you are probably laughing at my grammar and spelling...

If you are set on Kurosawa, that's cool. Kurosawa is awesome, but I am not an expert on the subject matter.

I used to use things like excerpts from "Save the Cat" by Blake Snyder, and "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" by Joseph Campbell to show my classes that human beings keep telling the same stories over and the relating a classic to a movie that they like or is currently popular. For Instance (luckily my class was high school seniors and were allowed to watch these movies), I had a lesson about how Jaws, Alien and Theseus and the Minotaur are all essentially the same story. BTW, the books do almost all the work for you.

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The 'class' isn't supposed to be a class, if that makes sense. More of an 'if you could learn anything you felt like learning for 50' a day, 2x a week, what would it be?' There are, of course, budgetary and logistical constraints, and I just Kurosawa might be interesting. Plus, I don't want to spend time preparing for a class that's supposed to be stress free. Some independent schools are adding 'J(anuary) Terms' with similar thinking. Spend 3 weeks in January building a canoe or some such, then back to the classroom for the remainder.

The other one I offered is a selected reading of David Foster Wallace's essays. Probably start with 'Host' about right wing talk radio. Thanks for the input.

High school? Sounds awesome.

Of course I love The 7 Samurai, but it's a LONG movie... Is there time? That's the only problem w. some of Kurosawa's movies... I like the Yojimbo & Sanjuro suggestion too.

JohnDoe wrote:...but is there anything a film buff could shed light on?

Most of the highlights have been hit here, and let me echo that Sanjuro is awesome. Beautiful and accessible.

But no one mentioned Rashomon. That's the one they made us watch in film school, and it's the one that broke Kurosawa out in the West. It's really great. Not as pure fun as Sanjuro, but it's probably Kurosawa's most famous film. So if there's an "educational" component to this project, that movie should probably be on the list.

JimZipCode wrote:

JohnDoe wrote:...but is there anything a film buff could shed light on?

Most of the highlights have been hit here, and let me echo that Sanjuro is awesome. Beautiful and accessible.

But no one mentioned Rashomon. That's the one they made us watch in film school, and it's the one that broke Kurosawa out in the West. It's really great. Not as pure fun as Sanjuro, but it's probably Kurosawa's most famous film. So if there's an "educational" component to this project, that movie should probably be on the list.

Absolutely agree. It's hard to remember all of his movies!

You could have kids read "In a Grove" by Akutagawa before or after viewing. (movie based on it and Akutagawa is viewed as one of Japan's best authors)

edit: a lot of modern directors mention Rashomon. You could probably watch Pulp Fiction as a comparison (if you want to lose your job).

I'd say why bother. Its probably all lost on the vapid self absorbed little bastards anyway. Just show the Kardashian tv show and be done with it.

tough old man wrote:I'd say why bother. Its probably all lost on the vapid self absorbed little bastards anyway. Just show the Kardashian tv show and be done with it.

I wished this weren't as true as it ended up being. Time wise, we only crammed in Hidden Fortress and Seven Samurai and the first half of Ran. It's only a seven week period with twice a week meetings. It's not for credit, so, yeah, there were cell phones and laptops out as it was on the projector.

But thanks for the input, I enjoyed the hell out of it!