Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, who directed 30 films in a career spanning 57 years. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema.
Ran is a 1985 epic action drama film directed, edited and co-written by Akira Kurosawa. The plot derives from William Shakespeare's King Lear and includes segments based on legends of the daimyō Mōri Motonari. The film stars Tatsuya Nakadai as Hidetora Ichimonji, an aging Sengoku-period warlord who decides to abdicate as ruler in favor of his three sons.
Toshiro Mifune was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 150 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration (1948–65) with Akira Kurosawa in such works as Rashomon, Seven Samurai, The Hidden Fortress, Throne of Blood, and Yojimbo. He also portrayed Miyamoto Musashi in Hiroshi Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy and one earlier Inagaki film, Lord Toranaga in the NBC television miniseries Shōgun, and Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto in three different films.
Rashomon is a 1950 Jidaigeki psychological thriller/crime film directed by Akira Kurosawa, working in close collaboration with cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa. It stars Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyō, Masayuki Mori, and Takashi Shimura. Although the film borrows the title from Ryūnosuke Akutagawa's short story "Rashōmon", it is based on Akutagawa's short story of 1922 "In a Grove", which provides the characters and plot. The story takes place in the 8th century at Rashomon, the South gate to Heian Kyo.
Dreams is a 1990 Japanese-American magical realist film of eight vignettes written and directed by Akira Kurosawa. It was inspired by actual dreams that Kurosawa claimed to have had repeatedly. It was his first film in 45 years on which he was the sole author of the screenplay. It was made five years after Ran, with assistance from George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and funded by Warner Bros. The film was screened out of competition at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival, and to this day has received positive reviews.
Takashi Shimura was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 200 films between 1934 and 1981. He is particularly noted for his appearances in 21 of Akira Kurosawa's 30 films, including as a lead actor in Drunken Angel (1948), Rashomon (1950), Ikiru (1952) and Seven Samurai (1954).
Shintaro Katsu was a Japanese actor, singer, producer, and director. He is known for starring in the Akumyo series, the Hoodlum Soldier series, and the Zatoichi series.
Buprestis is a genus of beetles in the family Buprestidae, the jewel beetles. As of 2011 there were 78 described species distributed across most of the world's ecozones except parts of Africa and Antarctica.
Agrilus is a genus of jewel beetles, notable for having the largest number of species of any single genus in the animal kingdom.
Propalticidae is a family of beetles, in the suborder Polyphaga. It contains two genera with the following species:
Despite the extraordinary acclaim that Akira Kurosawa's work has received both in Japan and abroad, his films, as well as Kurosawa as an individual, have also been subject to considerable criticism, much of it harsh. It should, however, be noted that, for many of the accusations leveled against the filmmaker's work or his personality that are cited here, commentators taking the contrary view in defense of the director — including Kurosawa himself — have also been cited.
A number of Akira Kurosawa's films have been remade.
Chrysodema is a genus of beetles in the family Buprestidae, containing the following species:
Iridotaenia is a genus of beetles in the family Buprestidae, containing the following species:
Agalmatidae, or Agalmidae, is a family of siphonophores.
Megaloxantha bicolor is a species of metallic wood-boring beetles in the family Buprestidae.
Prosopocoilus is a genus of beetles belonging to the Lucanidae family.
The following events occurred in April 1954:
