Prominent Japanese/American director Steven Okazaki is set to shoot “Mifune: Last Samurai,” a high-profile feature docu on Toshiro Mifune, the most prominent. Mifune: The Last Samurai. A feature-length documentary about the life and films of legendary actor Toshiro. Directed by Steven Okazaki. Visit IMDb for Photos, Showtimes, Cast, Crew, Reviews, Plot Summary, Comments. Not for nothing is Toshiro Mifune one of the most renowned actors of world cinema. Known mostly for his many collaborations with Akira Kurosawa — including such.
Trailer for Steven Okazaki's Documentary 'Mifune: The Last Samurai'by Alex Billington. September 2. 1, 2. Source: You. Tube! The first official trailer has debuted online for a fantastic documentary called Mifune: The Last Samurai, profiling the life and work of Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune. If you're a cinephile you're already very familiar with Mifune - he starred in numerous Akira Kurosawa films including The Seven Samurai, Yojimbo and Rashomon, as well as tons of other classic Japanese films. This doc examines his life work with old footage and photographs and tells his story from the early beginnings of his career, to his falling out with Kurosawa and final roles.
Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg are two of the filmmakers who talk about how incredible Mifune was, with more special guests. I caught this film at the Telluride Film Festival and loved it - highly recommended. Here's the first trailer for Steven Okazaki's documentary Mifune: The Last Samurai, found on You. Tube: Nearly 2. 0 years after his death and in the final run- up to his centenary, Toshiro Mifune remains a true giant of Japanese cinema.
Rich with archive footage and personal reminiscences from family and friends, this Keanu Reeves- narrated documentary shines a light on both the man and the actor, starting with his childhood and military service, through to his early years in the popular 'chanbara' action movies that he would later draw on for a string of masterpieces made with legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. Mifune: The Last Samurai reveals him as a formidable and mercurial talent, both onscreen and off, and offers rare insights into his background that draw intriguing parallels with Lee Marvin, Robert Mitchum and the Hollywood hard men of his generation. Mifune: The Last Samurai is directed by Steven Okazaki, of The Mushroom Club previously. The film premiered at the Venice and Telluride Film Festivals, and also played in London. Opens limited in the US starting November 2. Thanksgiving week. Excited for this?
Video archive for the film Mifune: The Last Samurai, which has a domestic theatrical release in the year of 2016. There is currently one video available for the film.
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Toshiro Mifune - Wikipedia. Toshiro Mifune. Toshiro Mifune . He is best known for his 1.
He also portrayed Musashi Miyamoto in Hiroshi Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy, Lord Toranaga in the NBC TV miniseries Sh. His parents were Methodistmissionaries working there.
After spending the first 1. China, as a Japanese citizen, he was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army Aviation division, where he served in the Aerial Photography unit during World War II. He was accepted for a position as an assistant cameraman. At this time, a large number of Toho actors, after a prolonged strike, had left to form their own company, Shin Toho. Toho then organized a .
Mifune's friends submitted an application and photo, without his knowledge. He was accepted, along with 4.
Kajir. Instructed to mime anger, he drew from his wartime experiences. Yamamoto took a liking to Mifune, recommending him to director Senkichi Taniguchi. This led to Mifune's first feature role, in Shin Baka Jidai. Mifune first encountered director Akira Kurosawa when Toho Studios, the largest film production company in Japan, was conducting a massive talent search, during which hundreds of aspiring actors auditioned before a team of judges. Kurosawa was originally going to skip the event, but showed up when an actress he knew told him of one actor who seemed especially promising. Kurosawa later wrote that he entered the audition to see . He promptly lost the competition.
Kurosawa, however, had found his muse. Eight years Mifune's junior, she came from a respected Tokyo family. They fell in love and Mifune soon proposed marriage. Director Senkichi Taniguchi, with the help of Akira Kurosawa, convinced the Yoshimine family to allow the marriage. It took place in February 1.
In November of the same year, their first son, Shir. In 1. 95. 5, they had a second son, Takeshi.
Mifune's daughter Mika was born to his mistress, actress Mika Kitagawa, in 1. Period of prosperity. He often portrayed samurai or r.
In such films as Seven Samurai and Yojimbo, he played characters who were often comically lacking in manners, but replete with practical wisdom and experience, understated nobility, and, in the case of Yojimbo, unmatched fighting prowess. Sanjuro in particular contrasts this earthy warrior spirit with the useless, sheltered propriety of the court samurai. Kurosawa highly valued Mifune for his effortless portrayal of unvarnished emotion, once commenting that he could convey in only three feet of film an emotion for which the average Japanese actor would require ten feet.
To prepare for Seven Samurai and Rashomon, Mifune reportedly studied footage of lions in the wild; for . In his earliest film roles in English like Grand Prix, made in 1. His martial arts instructor was Yoshio Sugino of the Tenshin Sh. Sugino created the fight choreography for films such as Seven Samurai and Yojimbo, and Kurosawa instructed his actors to emulate his movements and bearing.
Clint Eastwood was among the first of many actors to adopt this wandering warrior persona for foreign films, which he used to great effect in his Western roles, especially playing the Man with no name character in Spaghetti Westerns made with Sergio Leone, where he played a similar character to Mifune's Ronin with no name role in Yojimbo. Mifune may also be credited with originating the Yakuza archetype, with his performance as a mobster in Kurosawa's Drunken Angel (1. Yakuza film. These include Drunken Angel, Stray Dog, Rashomon, Seven Samurai, The Hidden Fortress, High and Low, Throne of Blood (an adaptation of Shakespeare's.
Macbeth), Yojimbo, and Sanjuro. Several factors contributed to the rift that ended this career- spanning collaboration.
Most of Mifune's contemporaries acted in several different movies throughout the year. Since Red Beard required Mifune to grow a natural beard . This put Mifune and his financially strapped production company deeply into debt, creating friction between him and Kurosawa. Although Red Beard played to packed houses in Japan and Europe, which helped Mifune recoup some of his losses, the ensuing years held varying outcomes for both Mifune and Kurosawa. After the film's release, the careers of each man took different arcs: Mifune continued to enjoy success with a range of samurai and war- themed films (Rebellion, Samurai Assassin, The Emperor and a General, among others).
In contrast, Kurosawa's output of films dwindled and drew mixed responses. During this time, Kurosawa attempted suicide.
In 1. 98. 0, Mifune experienced popularity with mainstream American audiences through his role as Lord Toranaga in the television miniseries Shogun. Yet Kurosawa did not rejoice in his estranged friend's success, and publicly made derisive remarks about Shogun. The school failed after only three years, due to mismanaged finances. However, the series' blunt portrayal of the Japanese shogunate and the greatly abridged version shown in Japan meant that it was not as well received in his homeland. The relationship between Kurosawa and Mifune remained ambivalent. While Kurosawa made some very uncharitable comments about Mifune's acting, he also admitted in Interview magazine that .
He also presented Mifune with the Kawashita award which he himself had won two years prior. They finally made something of a reconciliation in 1. Ishir. After making tenuous eye contact, they tearfully embraced one another, ending nearly three decades of mutual avoidance. Both died within a year of each other. In 1. 99. 2, Mifune began suffering from a serious unknown health problem. It has been variously suggested that he destroyed his health with overwork, suffered a heart attack, or experienced a stroke.
For whatever reason, he abruptly retreated from public life and remained largely confined to his home, cared for by his estranged wife Sachiko. When she succumbed to pancreatic cancer in 1. Mifune's physical and mental state began to decline rapidly.
He was survived by his two sons, his daughter, a grandson and two granddaughters. Mifune won Volpi Cup for Best Actor twice, in 1. Mifune was awarded the Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon in 1. It was, above all, the speed with which he expressed himself that was astounding. The ordinary Japanese actor might need ten feet of film to get across an impression; Mifune needed only three. The speed of his movements was such that he said in a single action what took ordinary actors three separate movements to express.
He put forth everything directly and boldly, and his sense of timing was the keenest I had ever seen in a Japanese actor. And yet with all his quickness, he also had surprisingly fine sensibilities.
The titles shown here are the most common titles used in the United States. Wise Jr.; Scott Baron. International Stars at War.
Historical Dictionary of Japanese Cinema. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.
Retrieved 1. 9 July 2. Something like an autobiography.
Translated by Audie Bock. The Films of Akira Kurosawa. University of California Press.
The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. ISBN 9. 78- 1- 4. The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. ISBN 9. 78- 1- 4.