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As well as a chronological examination of his films, "KURASAWA" contains numerous interviews with the director drawn from various sources and eras, and voice-overs quoting Kurasawa's 1983 memoir "Something like an Autobiography" are sprinkled throughout. As the film reaches "RASHOMON" (the first Kurasawa film embraced by the international community), the documentary branches out to include interviews with Clint Eastwood and James Coburn, who discuss the impact of the director's work on Hollywood.

Surprisingly, the film does gloss over quite a few of his works: "Nora Inu/Stray Dog", "Kakushi Toride N San Akunin/The Hidden Fortress", "Tsubaki Sanjuro" and "Tengoku To Jigoku/High and Low" are just a few of the films that fail to even rate a mention, although they're widely acclaimed and now available in the west on DVD. This is a minor quibble, however; the documentary makes no claim to comprehensively cover each Kurasawa film, and even without discussion of these other films the program goes for over 3 hours and still keeps a viewer engrossed.

The extra features included on the DVD proved to be unexpectedly interesting. With over 90 minutes of bonus interviews, one might expect dry, boring footage of talking heads, but this is not the case. The director's colleagues discuss the human side of Kurasawa, the effort he put into each project, and offer details on the writing, editing and visualisation process of his works.

This disc is a must for any Kurasawa fan. With knowledge of the director's childhood, his pioneering techniques and his influence on later generations, you can't help but immediately want to revisit his works. Finally, the easter-eggs are very amusing, and you'll be surprised at just how many of them are sprinkled throughout the menus.

A nostaligic, brief glimpse of a genius
"Kurosawa" is a well-produced, rather easy going documentary of a master film maker. It reads like a fan letter to Kurosawa, each moment heaping praise on the director, while leading the viewer through a biographical timeline of his life. An enjoyable piece to watch.

That being said, I was disappointed in the depth of the documentary. There is little discussion of Kurosawa's impact on film, his innovations and, most importantly, what he was trying to achieve with his films and his success in achieving that goal. Kurosawa was a film maker with a definitive focus, seeking no less than to change the world for the better using films as his medium. This message is never really mentioned, which surprised me as it is so crucial to understanding his films. Few, if any, of his films are examined critically and little insight is gained as to why Kurosawa is such an important artist of the 20th century.

Even with its lack of depth, "Kurosawa" makes for a fine, nostalgic documentary. Clips of Kurosawa at work on his films are enjoyable, as is the reunion of the "Roshomon" workers and the interviews with a few former Kurosawa-film beauties. The presentation of artifacts, such as the Noh mask used for "Throne of Blood" and the Ryokan in Kyoto where Kurosawa wrote his screen plays, adds a human element to the piece.

The DVD adds to the missing depth with a good length of interviews of varying interests, each focusing on personal reminiscences of Kurosawa. The Suntory whisky easter eggs are quite charming, and a nice touch. This is why we have DVDs.

Should have been longer, should have been deeper, but still good.

A look into the life and working habit of Kurosawa
There are two parts to this DVD: the main part that tells of the
life story of Kurosawa and highlights of his filmography, and the
bonus materials that consist of interviews with actors,
producers, cinematographer, sound techinicians, and others
involved in making movies with Kurosawa. I find the bonus
interviews much more interesting than the main part of the DVD.
From these interviews you get a picture of how Kurosawa works,
from competitive team writing of scripts to simultaneous filming
with *eight* cameras. It is true that as a fan one would like to
see the films discussed more, but the producer has crammed as
much as they can into a single dvd. To fully document the life
and work of Kurosawa will probably require a 3-or 4-dvd set!

What I like best from the DVD: Kurosawa's regret that he hasn't
done anything to resist Japan's war efforts, the frank discussion
of his suicide attempt, the discussions of his work ethics and
methods, his failed collaboration with Hollywood on ``Tora! Tora!
Tora!'', and the demonstration of the Iaido sword drawing
technique! What I wish they have covered better: the break
between Kurosawa and Mifune after Red Beard, and more
illustrations from the films when interviewees discuss various
aspects of the films.

One film that is strangely not mentioned at all in the whole DVD
is the Hidden Fortress. Interestingly, in his interview included
at the end of the Hidden Fortress Criterion Collection DVD,
George Lucas denies Hidden Fortress' influence on Star Wars. He
came across as rather annoyed by the question, actually. As for
the Seven Samurai, Michael Lesk's running commentary in the
Criterion Collection discusses in depth Kurosawa's directing
techniques. The present DVD also gives some more ``making of''
information on Seven Samurai. Kurosawa and Seven Samurai are
mentioned in perhaps two sentences in the ``making of'' special
feature of the Magnificient Seven's DVD.