Why Akira Kurosawa disliked contemporary American movies: “They are not cinema”
Almost unanimously recognised as one of the most important filmmakers in the history of the medium, it’s completely fair to say that cinema would not be what it is today without the invaluable contributions of Akira Kurosawa. Through his inimitable style and his approach to his craft, the Japanese auteur didn’t just make multiple engaging masterpieces but also inspired multiple generations of aspiring directors to pick up a camera.
With timeless works such as Rashomon and Seven Samurai under his belt, Kurosawa’s art’s impact extended beyond his country’s cinematic landscape. From George Lucas and Steven Spielberg to almost anyone working on modern action movies, almost all of it can be traced back to the Throne of Blood director’s seminal experiments with form and style.
While many American directors drew inspiration from Kurosawa’s vision of cinematic poetry as well as his unique choreography of action, the Japanese director was himself influenced by American cinema when he was starting out in the industry. On multiple occasions, Kurosawa cited John Ford as a source of constant amazement, alongside some of Ford’s compatriots.
It was Ford who helped Kurosawa properly understand the concept of the cinematic image, learning from the way in which the Stagecoach director composed his signature panoramas. Unfortunately, Kurosawa did not hold the same opinion when it came to Ford’s successors who tried to fit into a different mould as times changed along with the sensibilities of modern audiences.
During a conversation from the 1990s with Maani Petgar that was published on Cinephilia & Beyond, Kurosawa revealed the heavy disappointment he felt when he watched contemporary American movies that failed to do anything meaningful with the genre frameworks of action and sci-fi.
Kurosawa explained: “Regarding American cinema, I could say that much better films were made in the past. Today’s American cinema provides the wrong service to the audience. Violence and car crashes are often seen. What pleasure is there in watching such scenes? Old American films expressed human problems quite well, but these days, the American cinema has problems.”
Drawing a comparison with Hollywood classics that had a different approach, he added: “There is no doubt that a film like Jurassic Park is interesting, but there used to be more impressive films in the past. In contrast, films like those of [Abbas] Kiarostami touch the heart and are very beautiful. These new sci-fi, action films, are good but they are not cinema.”
One can only imagine how intense Kurosawa’s dislike would be for the action movies that are being pumped out by streaming services these days, solely stylised to convey the action itself while being detached from dramatic truths. Then again, he might have embraced them just like the rest of us and made a few of his own à la Michael Bay.
