The great Akira Kurosawa, a famed Japanese filmmaker who directed 30 films across a career spanning 57 years, initially began life as an aspiring painter.
Kurosawa’s elementary school teacher, Mr Tachikawa, was one of the first major influences on his life. Tachikawa’s progressive teaching methods encourage his students to draw with free will, was a moment which set the foundations for Kurosawa’s desire to spill his thoughts into art. Set for a career in art, a young Kurosawa began focusing on the working class of his homeland, aiming to put “unfulfilled political ideals directly onto the canvas.”
However, after heavy influence from his eldest brother Heigo—who was obsessed with foreign film—Kurosawa decided to live with his sibling in Tokyo and began to divulge as much cinema as he could. “I intended to be a painter before I became involved in film,” Kurosawa is quoted as saying in Stephen Prince’s book The Warrior’s Camera. “A curious turn of events, however, brought me to cinema, where I began my present career.”
Kurosawa continued: “When I changed careers, I burnt all the pictures that I had painted up until then. I intended to forget painting once and for all. As a well-known Japanese proverb says, ‘If you chase two rabbits, you may not catch even one’. I did no artwork at all once I began to work in cinema. But since becoming a film director, I have found that drawing rough sketches was often a useful means of explaining ideas to my staff.”
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Despite having gone on to earn cult status as a film director off the back of losing his passion for painting, Kurosawa revealed later in life that his initial ambition to become a leading artist always existed: “When I was young and still an art student, I used to dream of publishing a collection of my paintings or having an exhibition in Paris. These dreams were unexpectedly realised with the publication of my pictures for Kagemusha. Life is strange indeed.”
Later, following the major critical success of some of his feature films, Kurosawa released his book Ran, a publication which details his screenplay from the film of the same name, Kurosawa also includes his illustrated images and original colour storyboards. In it, he writes: “I cannot help but be fascinated by the fact that when I tried to paint well, I could only produce mediocre pictures. But when I concentrated on delineating the ideas for my films, I unconsciously produced works that people find interesting.”
Below, enjoy a series of Kurosawa’s hand-painted storyboards which set out his cinematic vision.
Akira Kurosawa – Dreams, 1990.
Official synopsis: “An imaginative Japanese production presents a series of short films by lauded director Akira Kurosawa. In one chapter, a young boy spies on foxes that are holding a wedding ceremony; the following instalment features another youth, who witnesses a magical moment in an orchard.
“In the segment ‘Crows’, an aspiring artist enters the world of a painting and encounters Vincent van Gogh. Many of the films in this inventive movie are tied together by an environmental theme.”
Akira Kurosawa – Kagemusha, 1980.
Official synopsis: “Akira Kurosawa’s lauded feudal epic presents the tale of a petty thief who is recruited to impersonate Shingen, an ageing warlord, in order to avoid attacks by competing clans.
“When Shingen dies, his generals reluctantly agree to have the impostor take over as the powerful ruler. He soon begins to appreciate life as Shingen, but his commitment to the role is tested when he must lead his troops into battle against the forces of a rival warlord.”
Akira Kurosawa – Ran, 1985.
Official synopsis: “At the age of seventy, after years of consolidating his empire, the Great Lord Hidetora Ichimonji decides to abdicate and divide his domain amongst his three sons.
“Taro, the eldest, will rule. Jiro, his second son, and Saburo will take command of the Second and Third Castles but are expected to obey and support their elder brother. Saburo defies the pledge of obedience and is banished.”
Akira Kurosawa – Madadayo, 1993.
Official synopsis: “In 1943, as the tide of war shifts against Japan, Professor Hyakken Uchida leaves his teaching position to begin his career as a writer. With the warm wishes of his students, he sets out to start anew.
“His former students decide to visit the professor to thank him for all the good he had done as their dutiful teacher. Through their frequent visits, they develop a new admiration for his wisdom and his offbeat sense of humour.
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