Is Akira Kurosawa the key? Ep 3

Kurosawa?s Ikiru comes out in January, folks! Oh happy day!

Also, I just moved across country and accordingly lost some of my webspace with my ISP. That?s why many of the pictures/links on some of the other pages in this thread aren?t working, but I hope to have them back up soon.

 

I have only one Kurosawa DVD, Kamagusha (or something like that), I was wondering if any of you guys have found any similarities in SW with this one? There is the duality theme with the ruler being replaced by someone else (Sidious/Palpatine?)

Anyway, great thread.

 

keywords from ROTJ:

"beware the powers of the Emperor,
or suffer your fathers fate you will"

(Yoda to Luke)

hmm...

 

Everytime this thread makes it back to the front page, I can't help but smile

 

Can someone help me out with my Japanese history? Is it fair to say that the Imperial troops were initially not at odds with the Samurai? I'm guessing that when the Emperor declared that regional leaders would have to give up their lands, the Samurai revolted, but were slaughtered by the Imperial army? Is that about right?

 

>>>> Can someone help me out with my Japanese history? Is it fair to say that the Imperial troops were initially not at odds with the Samurai?

The Emperor practically turned his back on the samurai in favor of modernizing Japan, even after many years of loyal service. The samurai were actually revered by a majority of the soldiers in the Imperial Army (some of the soldiers in the Imperial Army were in fact former samurai).

>>>> I'm guessing that when the Emperor declared that regional leaders would have to give up their lands, the Samurai revolted, but were slaughtered by the Imperial army? Is that about right?

The samurai revolted when their way of life was being threatened by railroads, guns, etc. They believed that they were still fighting in the best interests of the Emperor despite the fact that the Emperor had turned on them. Kurosawa actually visits this theme in his film Ran, when Hidetora banishes some of his loyal retainers who, despite having fallen into ill favor with Hidetora, remained faithful to their master until the very end.

I would guess that the Jedi still remain committed to the concept of the Republic, even after Palpatine drives the Republic into the ground.

 

Loyalty and faith in leadership is, as bad_radio pointed out the crux of what Ran (and King Lear) is about. Kagemusha is another great adaptation of a "western" story (I'm pretty sure that if you look in the lexicon of any culture there'll be some sort of The Prince and the Pauper story in it)

 

"I would guess that the Jedi still remain committed to the concept of the Republic, even after Palpatine drives the Republic into the ground."

Very much agreed. At the very least, they are loyal to what the Republic once represented. Obi-wan makes this clear in ANH, when he reminices to Luke about what it was like "before the dark times."

 

bad radio is the man.

Anyway, I definitely see the parallels of the Jedi and the republic to the way the Emperor turned his back to the Samurai in Japanese history. Sweet stuff guys.

Oh, and when Anakin turns to the dark side, keep Sword of Doom in mind. Evil at it's best.

 

Exellent thread, I wish I had something to add since I love Kurosawa so much, but I had to mention how awsome this thread is.

 

Thanks very much for the help bad radio et al. Just wanted to make sure that I wasn't going off half-cocked in suggesting similarities between the fall of the Samurai and the Jedi.

 

No TK327, you made a very good observation.

 

These are some of the best observations these boards have had the honor of holding. Ever since the first "Is Akira Kurosawa the key" post was made, many have tried to discredited the influence that Mr. Kurosawa had on GL.

The influence is remarkable but many are still in the state of denial.

Bad Radio, you deserve much respect for your thorough research on this subject, especially when GL himself comments on the influence of Akira Kurosawa.

This last SW film will prove fully where, as you suggested, this last episode is headed and its ending. I remember stating long ago that Anakin knew, prior to ANH, about his son. Many so-called, or so believed, foremost authority on this topic were already proved wrong when the spoiler came out of Anakins knowledge of Padme's pregnancy and himself as a father. When you posted on this same subject, I was relieved to know I was not the only one and was happy to see your research support this.

Keep up with the good threads for you have proven yourself to be the only qualifing and foremost authority on the subject of the SW prequels of all those who post on these boards.


Prometheus

 

I'm Sorry! Let us not forget also TK327. Fantastic job! You too are the man TK.


Prometheus

 

To honor the Japanese, I offer these Haikus in praise of this thread:

This thread is full of
Intelligent discussion
Not one clone theory

Almost everyone
registered before 02
This newbie is shamed

Is Kurosawa
the main influence on george?
Or is Asimov?

I bow in respect
to a thread that can rival
that great Ivan thread.

 

i agree with you

 

I just saw The Last Samurai and I was quite startled how much the Jedi philosophy resembles that of the Samurai.

I didn't know much about these fellows, but now I realize that Lucas has indeed been influenced from these types of movies.

There is no anger.....there is peace....

In The Last Samurai Tom kills a Samurai's husband, and instead of hating him, this wife heals his wounds.

Also like Jedi in Episode 3 all the Samurai die in the end of this movie

They are killed by soldiers with guns. In Starwars, they are killed by stormtroopers with laser guns.

In Starwars, Jedi have ancient like weapons (lightsabers) like Samurai who use only swords.

 

Also The Last Samurai portrays the Samurai as always serving the government, just like in starwars, the Jedi bring peace and order to the galaxy.

Both governments undergo a change (the Republic becomes corrupt, while that the Samurai serve pass through western influence) which the Samurai and Jedi don't accept.

Also both the Starwars films and The Last Samurai contain corrupt senators.

The Samurai and Jedi are both finally destroyed, not by enemies, but the organization they served and were loyal to for thousands of years.

 

Sorry for the over-exuberance, but...

Best. Thread. EVER!

This thread should be mandatory reading for any newbie that joins this forum.

 

Yeah, TK327 and Bad Radio posted some quite amazing posts. There are also some very good links on the first page.

 

Given its length, the opening shot of Episode 3 is probably another homage to the opening shot of The Hidden Fortress. I wouldn?t be surprised if the camera was trailing Obi-wan?s and Anakin?s ship just like the camera trailed Tahei and Matakishi. Overall, it would be appropriate to have Episode 3 and Episode 4 begin by paying tribute to The Hidden Fortress.

Edit: The opening shot of The Hidden Fortress is approximately 1 minute 22 seconds. The opening shot in Episode 3 is estimated to be about 2 minutes 37 seconds.

 

Right-O keeper of swords, I made a simmilar post on the similarity of the Latter day Samauri and the PT Jedi and how they have a similar situation. The Samauri were being threatened by the government because they were deemed useless. The Empire will do the same to the Jedi.

Good stuff.

 

Jedi can also be paralleled to medieval knights. Qui-Gon Jinn is a good example of this. Also, they live in a Temple, a dwelling of the past.

But the Jedi philosophy is definately based on that of the Samurai and similar orders.

 

KUROSAWA

KUR-O-SA-WA

KURE-YO-STA-WA

CURE-YOUR-STAR-WARS



Egads!! I believe he is the key!

 

Very happy to see this thread is appreciated. bad radio and a number of others have really made this thread what it is. Wish I had more time to contribute.

Thought I should link this thread to this hot debate