Akira Kurosawa citations

Akira Kurosawa est un réalisateur, producteur, scénariste et monteur japonais, né à Tokyo le 23 mars 1910 et mort dans la même ville le 6 septembre 1998. Avec Yasujirō Ozu et Kenji Mizoguchi, il est considéré comme le cinéaste japonais le plus célèbre et le plus influent de l'histoire,. En cinquante-sept ans de carrière cinématographique, il réalise plus de trente films.

Akira Kurosawa débuta en 1936 en tant qu'assistant réalisateur et scénariste. En 1943, au cours de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, il réalise son premier film, La Légende du grand judo . Son huitième long métrage, L'Ange ivre , sort en 1948 et est acclamé par la critique, affirmant la réputation de Kurosawa. Ce film marque les débuts de l'acteur Toshirō Mifune, qui tournera au total seize films avec Kurosawa.

Avec Rashōmon, dont la première eut lieu à Tokyo en août 1950, Akira Kurosawa reçut en 1951 le Lion d'or de la Mostra de Venise, récompense suivie par une diffusion en Europe et en Amérique du Nord. Le succès de ce film auprès du public et de la presse ouvrit alors les portes de l'Occident au cinéma japonais et permit de forger la réputation internationale de nombreux artistes japonais. Des années 1950 au début des années 1960, Kurosawa réalisa environ un film par an, dont Vivre , Les Sept Samouraïs et Le Garde du corps . Par la suite, sa carrière est moins prolifique, mais ses derniers travaux — dont Kagemusha, l'Ombre du guerrier et Ran — lui permettent de remporter de nouvelles récompenses, notamment la Palme d'or pour Kagemusha, l'Ombre du guerrier.

En 1990, il reçoit l'Oscar d'honneur « pour ses accomplissements qui ont inspiré, ravi, enrichi et diverti le public mondial et influencé les cinéastes du monde entier »,. En 1999, il est nommé à titre posthume « Asiatique du siècle » dans la catégorie « Arts, Littérature, et Culture » par le magazine AsianWeek et CNN, présenté comme « l'une des cinq personnes ayant le plus contribué à l'épanouissement de l'Asie durant les 100 dernières années ». Wikipedia  

✵ 23. mars 1910 – 6. septembre 1998   •   Autres noms 黑泽明, Kurosava Akira
Akira Kurosawa photo
Akira Kurosawa: 16   citations 0   J'aime

Akira Kurosawa: Citations en anglais

“Man is a genius when he is dreaming.”

Variante: Man is a genius when he is dreaming.

“I like silent pictures and I always have. They are often so much more beautiful than sound pictures are. Perhaps they had to be.”

On the style of the film Rashomon, as quoted in The Films of Akira Kurosawa (1998) by Donald Richie, 3rd edition, p. 79
Contexte: I like silent pictures and I always have. They are often so much more beautiful than sound pictures are. Perhaps they had to be. At any rate I wanted to restore some of this beauty. I thought of it, I remember in this way: one of techniques of modern art is simplification, and that I must therefore simplify this film.

“Human beings are unable to be honest with themselves about themselves. They cannot talk about themselves without embellishing.”

Criterion Collection essay on Rashamon, excerpted from Something Like an Autobiography as translated by Audie E. Bock (1982) http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/196-akira-kurosawa-on-rashomon
Contexte: Human beings are unable to be honest with themselves about themselves. They cannot talk about themselves without embellishing. This script portrays such human beings — the kind who cannot survive without lies to make them feel they are better people than they really are. It even shows this sinful need for flattering falsehood going beyond the grave — even the character who dies cannot give up his lies when he speaks to the living through a medium. Egoism is a sin the human being carries with him from birth; it is the most difficult to redeem. This film is like a strange picture scroll that is unrolled and displayed by the ego. You say that you can’t understand this script at all, but that is because the human heart itself is impossible to understand. If you focus on the impossibility of truly understanding human psychology and read the script one more time, I think you will grasp the point of it.

“In a mad world, only the mad are sane!”

Ran (1985)
Variante: In a mad world, only the mad are sane.

“Although human beings are incapable of talking about themselves with total honesty, it is much harder to avoid the truth while pretending to be other people.”

Akira Kurosawa livre Something Like an Autobiography

Something Like an Autobiography (1981)
Contexte: Although human beings are incapable of talking about themselves with total honesty, it is much harder to avoid the truth while pretending to be other people. They often reveal much about themselves in a very straightforward way. I am certain that I did. There is nothing that says more about its creator than the work itself.

“You say that you can’t understand this script at all, but that is because the human heart itself is impossible to understand. If you focus on the impossibility of truly understanding human psychology and read the script one more time, I think you will grasp the point of it.”

Criterion Collection essay on Rashamon, excerpted from Something Like an Autobiography as translated by Audie E. Bock (1982) http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/196-akira-kurosawa-on-rashomon
Contexte: Human beings are unable to be honest with themselves about themselves. They cannot talk about themselves without embellishing. This script portrays such human beings — the kind who cannot survive without lies to make them feel they are better people than they really are. It even shows this sinful need for flattering falsehood going beyond the grave — even the character who dies cannot give up his lies when he speaks to the living through a medium. Egoism is a sin the human being carries with him from birth; it is the most difficult to redeem. This film is like a strange picture scroll that is unrolled and displayed by the ego. You say that you can’t understand this script at all, but that is because the human heart itself is impossible to understand. If you focus on the impossibility of truly understanding human psychology and read the script one more time, I think you will grasp the point of it.

“There is nothing that says more about its creator than the work itself.”

Akira Kurosawa livre Something Like an Autobiography

Something Like an Autobiography (1981)
Contexte: Although human beings are incapable of talking about themselves with total honesty, it is much harder to avoid the truth while pretending to be other people. They often reveal much about themselves in a very straightforward way. I am certain that I did. There is nothing that says more about its creator than the work itself.

“Egoism is a sin the human being carries with him from birth; it is the most difficult to redeem.”

Criterion Collection essay on Rashamon, excerpted from Something Like an Autobiography as translated by Audie E. Bock (1982) http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/196-akira-kurosawa-on-rashomon
Contexte: Human beings are unable to be honest with themselves about themselves. They cannot talk about themselves without embellishing. This script portrays such human beings — the kind who cannot survive without lies to make them feel they are better people than they really are. It even shows this sinful need for flattering falsehood going beyond the grave — even the character who dies cannot give up his lies when he speaks to the living through a medium. Egoism is a sin the human being carries with him from birth; it is the most difficult to redeem. This film is like a strange picture scroll that is unrolled and displayed by the ego. You say that you can’t understand this script at all, but that is because the human heart itself is impossible to understand. If you focus on the impossibility of truly understanding human psychology and read the script one more time, I think you will grasp the point of it.

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