Purely for myself I have decided to attempt a chronological watch of Akira Kurosawa’s films.

Over the years I have seen more films by Kurosawa than by any other single director. Seven Samurai is probably the film I have watched the most times of any film (not counting films my children watched over and over again when they were little).

Kurosawa’s ability to compose within the frame and his adeptness at action sequences are two of the many things I love about his work. The rise of streaming access strikes me as a great opportunity to view an artist’s work as it unfolds across decades.

Please join me at any time during the year. My goal is to average 2 Kurosawa films a month. I’ll be posting a non academic commentary on each film as I see it, and I’d love to appreciate and discuss the films with others who have seen them too.

To begin with I will be using the Criterion Channel. Currently it seems to offer all but four of his 30 films. That availability may change, but for the moment it has all the early films which I feel might be hardest to find in other venues.

The first film is Sanshiro Sugata (1943). It’s 80 minutes long and I’ve already watched it. I’ll post my comments next Sunday January 10 on this blog.