One of the most generous presents I've ever received from a friend, is a copy of the now-deleted Criterion AK:25 Akira Kurosawa DVD set,which I've been wanting to dive into. With the set sitting on the shelf looking at me,I was excited to recently find English subtitles for his debut (not in the Criterion set), which led to me finally discovering where it all began for Kurosawa.
View on the film:
Moving on up from being an assistant director after original co-writer/ director Kajiro Yamamoto quit the project, editor/co-writer/directing auteur Akira Kurosawa makes his mark with motifs which would be expanded upon in his solo directing credits, (with the English title for this film being "Horse",a animal that would play a part in his future credits) most prominently in the snowstorm-swept surroundings of the Onoda farm heightening the rustic Melodrama atmosphere, and low-slinging wipes closing in on the tension between the Onoda family members over keeping the horse.
Galloping onto the screen with a opening propaganda message about the army needing strong horses for the war, the screenplay by Kurosawa & Yamamoto features a surprising amount of underhanded criticism of the military, via the industrialized army treating the handing out of cash to the poor pre-industrial farming Onoda family with the same detached casualness that the army treat cattle with.
Breaking the Melodrama with a mesmerizing pose in sadness as the horse fades into the distance, Hideko Takamine gives a wonderful performance as Ine, tugging at the heartstrings with a wide-eyed innocent love for the horse.
View on the film:
Moving on up from being an assistant director after original co-writer/ director Kajiro Yamamoto quit the project, editor/co-writer/directing auteur Akira Kurosawa makes his mark with motifs which would be expanded upon in his solo directing credits, (with the English title for this film being "Horse",a animal that would play a part in his future credits) most prominently in the snowstorm-swept surroundings of the Onoda farm heightening the rustic Melodrama atmosphere, and low-slinging wipes closing in on the tension between the Onoda family members over keeping the horse.
Galloping onto the screen with a opening propaganda message about the army needing strong horses for the war, the screenplay by Kurosawa & Yamamoto features a surprising amount of underhanded criticism of the military, via the industrialized army treating the handing out of cash to the poor pre-industrial farming Onoda family with the same detached casualness that the army treat cattle with.
Breaking the Melodrama with a mesmerizing pose in sadness as the horse fades into the distance, Hideko Takamine gives a wonderful performance as Ine, tugging at the heartstrings with a wide-eyed innocent love for the horse.