The Auteur Theory ~ Akira Kurosawa

Kurosawa's films, or at least those I have watched this past week, display certain similarities that make them stand out. All three of the films I watched (Yojimbo, Throne of Blood, and The Hidden Fortress), take place in the feudal Japan era, featured a sword-wielding expert, and dealt with manipulation.

Taking place in Japan seems simple enough to understand. The director seems to focus on the feudal era, which suggests that he is fascinated with that era. It's likely he may use or reference subjects and ideas from that time period in his work, although I cannot say for certain as I do not know his every work. In addition to the era, each film featured a highly regarded sword master. While all three are different, they are undoubtably the most interesting character featured, and usually given the most screen time (the exception would be "The Hidden Fortress," where the Princess is another interesting character, and the others hold up their ends as well).

All three films also dealt with the subject of manipulation. In Throne of Blood, Washizu ends up being manipulated by his wife into believing everything in the prophecy and to try and cheat fate, which becomes his undoing. In Yojimbo, Sanjuro tries to manipulate two quarreling sides of a town in order to rise the tension and goad one of them into hiring him. This doesn't go quite as plan, as he gets caught performing an act of aggression to one side. While he gets put in a sticky situation, his situation didn't end up as grim as Washizu. In The Hidden Fortress, Makabe manipulates two peasants into smuggling his princess across borders without their knowledge. In all three films, greed is the central catalyst for the manipulation in each one.

So what I understood so far on Kurosawa's style is that greed is not a virtuous ideal, and those that get enticed by it will eventually have it come back in full force. This is shown in Throne of Blood when Washizu finally dies after the prophecy comes to fulfillment, in Yojimbo when Sanjuro gets captured after he slips up when he kills Ushitora's men, and in The Hidden Fortress when the peasants constantly try to abandon the group and take the gold for themselves. Of course these are only my thoughts on his work that I have seen. It is quite possible that his other films may not even have any of these commonalties, and I just happened to choose the only three similar films. Either way, I enjoyed watching these films and seeing these similarities presented.