Something Like an Autobiography - Akira Kurosawa [0]
Copyright © 1982 by Akira Kurosawa
Appendix copyright 1975 by Toho Company, Ltd., Japan All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Originally published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. in 1982.
This book is published under a program designed to encourage the translation and publication of major Japanese writings not previously available in English. The program was conceived by the Japanese Society of New York, and Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., is grateful to the Society for its continued support.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Kurosawa, Akira, 1910-
Something like an autobiography.
Translation of : Gama no abura.
1. Kurosawa, Akira, 1910-
2. Moving-picture producers and directors—Japan—Biography.
I. Title.
PN1998.A3K789413 1983 791.43′0233’0924 [B] 82-48900
eISBN: 978-0-307-80321-4
v3.1
Translator’s Preface
I AWAITED my first meeting with Kurosawa Akira with a great deal of curiosity and a fair amount of dread. I had heard stories about his “imperial” manner, his severe demands and difficult temper. I had heard about drinking problems, a suicide attempt, rumors of emotional disturbance in the late sixties, isolation from all but a few trusted associates and a contempt for the ways of the world. I was afraid a face-to-face encounter could do nothing but spoil the marvelous impression I had gained of him through his films.
Nevertheless I had a job to do: I was writing a book on those I considered to be Japan’s best film directors, past and present. I had promised my publisher interviews with all the living artists; I could hardly omit the best-known Japanese director in the world. I requested an interview through his then producer, Matsue Yōichi. I waited.
Six months went by, and my Fulbright year in Tokyo was drawing to a close. I was packing my bags and distributing my household goods among my friends in preparation for departure the next morning when the telphone rang. Matsue was calling to say Kurosawa and he would have coffee with me that very afternoon.
In the interim I had of course interviewed all the other subjects for the book, and all had spoken very highly of Kurosawa. In fact, the whole chapter on Kurosawa was already roughed out with the help of previous publications and these directors’ contributions, so it seemed possible that my meeting with the man himself would be nothing more than a formality. Not only Kurosawa’s fellow directors, but film-company executives, independent producers and most of the older generation of Japanese critics regarded him as a special case, someone whose eccentricities were readily excused by his stature as an artist. Even the younger generation of filmmakers credited Kurosawa, whose style they opposed as representative of “the establishment,” with bringing Japanese cinema to the attention of the world, and thus opening an international pathway for them. In short, although Kurosawa was indeed regarded as a difficult person to deal with, a large part of this difficulty seemed to lie in the fact that he was in a class by himself, the most important member of the Japanese film community, yet one whose standards were anything but typical.
The unique and in some respects uncomfortable position Kurosawa held grew out of his unprecedented and as yet unmatched international success. His 1950 film Rashōmon not only opened the eyes of the world to the existence of a cinema in this remote, war-shaken country that could be universally appreciated, but launched his personal career into a course of consistent triumphs a decade and a half long. Rashōmon’s Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival was succeeded by countless awards for virtually every film he wrote and directed, period and contemporary dramas alike.
The twelve films that Kurosawa made between 1950 and 1965 were all box-office successes in Japan, and eventually made an impact on international