Where to start · The emperor of cinema
Where to start with Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa shaped modern cinema: westerns, Star Wars and a thousand heist films borrowed from him. His films are big, humane and thrilling, and far easier to love than their age suggests.
Full filmography1Start here
Seven Samurai1954 · Akira Kurosawa · 207 minThe blueprint for every team-up movie ever made. Three and a half hours that fly by.2Then
Rashomon1950 · Akira Kurosawa · 88 minOne crime, four versions of the truth. Short, sharp and still copied today.
Yojimbo1961 · Akira Kurosawa · 110 minA wandering samurai plays two gangs against each other. Kurosawa at his most fun.
Ikiru1952 · Akira Kurosawa · 143 minA clerk learns he is dying and looks for a reason to have lived. One of the most moving films ever made.3Go deeper
High and Low1963 · Akira Kurosawa · 142 minA kidnapping thriller that becomes a study of rich and poor. Gripping from the first minute.
Throne of Blood1957 · Akira Kurosawa · 108 minMacbeth in feudal Japan, all fog, arrows and dread.
Ran1985 · Akira Kurosawa · 160 minHis late colour epic: King Lear with armies of red and yellow banners.
Red Beard1965 · Akira Kurosawa · 185 minA young doctor learns compassion. Kurosawa's warmest, most generous film.