Subjectivism in Akira Kurosawa films.

Subjectivism in Akira Kurosawa films.

Author: Tony

Akira Kurosawa filmmaking philosophy can be abstracted from the book, Something like an Autobiography. His splendid films project a radiance of inspiration, ambience, human emotional complexity, compassion, empathy and humanity. His unique filmmaking styles are able to synthesize aesthetical portrayals of human complexity and universal reality; and project them in a single-dimensional reflective manner. He has been able to achieve this exploit by applying his subjectivism philosophy in his films (Mellon 15). This paper will analyze the various elements of this subjective paradigm as applied in Kurosawa’s films. The following elements are analyzed: filmmaking techniques, content of the film, themes of the film and how these elements create his unique filmmaking styles. Thereafter, the films, The Seven Samurai and Yojimbo, will be used to illustrate these elements:

The thesis statement for this paper is that subjectivism philosophy forms the basic essence from which Kurosawa develops his films. A brief description of subjectivism is provided below. Also, the elements of subjectivism in the book Something like an Autobiography are deciphered.

Subjectivism is a philosophical theory relating to validity of knowledge; and it stipulates that a person can only obtain knowledge, conscience and moral ethics from his/her direct experiences. Hence, subjective experiences provide the descriptive, expressive, qualitative and relativistic characteristics of the essence of every element of reality. Thus, reality is within the observer who therefore perceives the universe as an entity created from the interdependent elements composed of individuals and objects. According to subjectivism, reality is a volatile impalpable entity and knowledge is dynamic in nature, hence there is no fixed delineation of truth (Mellon, 27). In the book, Something like an Autobiography, Akira Kurosawa provides the readers with a glance into his life experiences and how they had a direct influence on his career as a filmmaker. The various anecdotes and commentaries contained within the book illustrate the subjective perspectives of the author, and also describes the adoption these perspectives into every facet of his life, including his filming career. Kurosawa recollects his childhood experiences, his upbringing and how these experiences shaped his viewpoints (Kurosawa 18).  

He narrates how his strict father exhibited modern ideals when Japan was still a very conservative society. For example, his father took them to watch silent films (during times when films were abhorred in society), and he also introduced western sports in the local gymnasium. Moreover, his father popularized baseball and also built a swimming pool. These were advanced and bold feats in a traditional and conservative Japan. Kurosawa commented that these subjective influences from his father were ingrained in his self (Kurosawa 75).

Another source of subjective influence in Kurosawa’s life is his Heigo, his older brother who exhibited a modern individualistic personality, and who also rebelled against the prevailing Japanese culture. Heigo introduced Kurosawa to foreign literature, foreign films and also influenced him to rebel against societal norms. The act of rebellion is exemplified by an episode where Heigo laughed during a Buddhist funeral and was thrown out; and once out, he and Kurosawa both ridiculed the Japanese burial culture. Another example of how Heigo’s subjectivism influenced Kurosawa occurred during the 1923 Kanto earthquake when both of them were surveying the aftermath of the destructive earthquake; and Heigo encouraged Kurosawa to carefully observe and internalize the sights and espies of the destruction in order for Kurosawa to overcome his sense of fear. The extent of Heigo’s subjectivism during this episode was so great that it patterned Kurosawa’s worldview from that moment on and for the rest of his life (Kurosawa 135).

Akira Kurosawa’s films explored a myriad of topics, themes and cultural issues. He scripted original screenplays as well as adapted them from various traditional Japanese and foreign literatures. He created and applied new and unique cinematic styles in his filmmaking career. The humanistic styles utilized in his films are used to portray and emphasize the moralistic journeys of the main protagonists in the films. The heroes in most of his films are individualistic persons who go through a period of self-definition and self-discovery. The heroes thus contrast their individualistic ideals; and the collective and conservative nature of their societies (Mellon 67). Hence, it can be concluded that these heroes closely parallel the character traits and experiences of Heigo. The films also illustrate the enormous value that Kurosawa places on individualism.

The descriptive aesthetic and visual styles in Kurosawa’s films have enabled the films to silently convey the meaning of humanity. These styles developed from his passion for drawings, paintings and silent films. These styles enabled him to incorporate and integrate his messages within the aesthetic contents of his films; thus providing both descriptive and qualitative elements to the films (Mellon 81). Hence, Kurosawa was able to adequately project his concept of reality to his audience through such films.

Kurosawa applied subjective and expressive cinematographic techniques in his films in order to create brilliant and complex narratives that were able to permeate into the human soul. In the films, The Seven Samurai and Yojimbo, he was able to utilize the functionalities of the moving camera to its maximal extent, while concurrently emphasizing subjectivist camera techniques such as long take and deep-focus tracking shots (using two camera techniques). Moreover, he utilized the telephoto lens and amorphic frames to effectively describe and visually portray the mood (especially the claustrophobic mood) of the scene. His aesthetics were defined by the montage style editing, subjective applications of wipe transitions and the utilization of the subjective camera techniques (Prince 57).

The simultaneous multi-camera filming technique that he invented and utilized enabled him to enhance the symbolism and connotation of the film. Kurosawa is a subjectivist who ensures that his films are scripted based on his own experiences. Hence, the contents and themes of these films closely parallel his experiences, ideals and perspectives (Prince 77). This principle will be demonstrated by an analysis of two films: The Seven Samurai and Yojimbo.

To start with, both films explore the theme of individualism versus collectivism. In The Seven Samurai, the farmers need to ensure that their own well-being, their daughter’s innocence and their crops are protected from the marauding bandits. Thus, they hire the services of seven masterless samurai for protection. The samurai exhibit their autonomy and individualism by refusing to have a master over them, and the farmers display their individualism by only showing concerns about matters that concern them only. However, each individualistic samurai merge their efforts to a common collective (protection of the farmers) (“The Seven Samurai”). In Yojimbo, the ronin attempts several times to instigate a catastrophic war between the two competing gangs in order for him to emerge as the sole beneficiary of the fight. The ronin also joins either gang depending on the situation (“Yojimbo”).

Since Kurosawa is a subjectivist who ensures that his films are scripted based on his own experiences; so does these two films which portray scenes of poverty (as symbolized by slums and village life), romance, torture, crime, illnesses, sorrow and other manifestations of suffering. The samurais in both films were originally poor and they also fell in love with the local girls (Mellon 113). In Yojimbo, the gangs engage in crime, torture a captured enemy and kill innocent people thus bringing sorrow to many families in the locality. Also, the ronin becomes ill in Yojimbo, but he is also able to kill his tormenters while he is in this condition (“Yojimbo”). Kurosawa had lived in a slum during his youth and it is here that he saw and experienced romance, crime, torture, poverty, sorrow, pain and sufferings (Mellon 101).

In conclusion, Kurosawa applies the subjectivism philosophy in his films to create and develop unique and distinctive aesthetic styles that express humanistic ideals. This has enabled his splendid films to project a radiance of inspiration, ambience, human emotional complexity, compassion, empathy and humanity. Moreover, it has enabled him to develop unique filmmaking styles that are able to synthesize aesthetical portrayals of human complexity and universal reality; and project them in a single-dimensional reflective manner. These styles have made his films to have a long-lasting influence of the global film industry.

                                             Works Cited.

Kurosawa, Akira, dir. Seven Samurai. Toho, 1954. Film.

Kurosawa, Akira. Something Like An Autobiography.. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1982. Print.

Kurosawa, Akira, dir. Yojimbo. Toho, 1961. Film.

Mellon, Joan. Akira Kurosawa: An Enigma of Japanese Films. New York: LiveRight, 2005.

            Print.

Prince, Stephen. The Warrior's Camera: The Cinema Of Akira Kurosawa. Revised and

            Expanded Edition. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1999. Print.