Akira Kurosawa Centennial

It's 100 years since the great Japanese movie director Akira Kurosawa was born. If you're a fan, it's a great time to look around, and find places that are showing his best films on the big screen.

The Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley (near San Francisco) is doing just that. Last night, I saw Kurosawa's directorial debut film, Sanshiro Sugata, and its sequel, Sanshiro Sugata II.

Good learning

It is instructive to see this fantastic director's early efforts. I love the carefully choreographed camera movements and acting. The first fight scene of course is amazing—the bold lighting contrast, the choreography of camera and actors as they prepare to fight. An influence, no doubt, on the drama of the stand-off in Westerns and Spaghetti Westerns.

I also love the scheming scene in the jujitsu dojo. The dance between camera and actors is elegant and smooth.

The occasion has inspired me to read up more on the director, both the praise and the criticism.

The test of time

But to be honest, it wasn't that much fun to watch. Unlike some of my Kurosawa favorites, Sanshiro Sugata I and II are film geek fare that don't quite stand up to the test of time. Ironic since these films were commercial hits in their days—not artsy films like Kurosawa's later efforts. But film-making has progressed so much since the film was made that it no longer moves the audience in the same way. The editing is where it breaks down the most, especially for the fight scenes. They feel flat, and fail to build suspense and energy for the modern viewer.

But I'm expecting his classics to stand up well and still move all audiences, film geek or not. It will be exciting to see Yojimbo and Ran on the big screen in the next few weeks! Too bad we'll miss the Seven Samurai and already missed Rashomon. Maybe we'll watch those on DVD.