A few years back I got into an Akira Kurosawa phase where I was watching a lot of his films and it culminated with writing an academic paper on his film Stay Dog. I bought a bunch of books about Kurosawa for research on the paper; one of them was Kurosawa’s autobiography, Something Like an Autobiography. I finally got around to reading all of it. I think it reflects how his diverse artistic background made him the director that he is. He had a big interest in literature in part inspired by his older brother (this later led to his extensive background as a screen writer). He was also interested in paining which gave him a sense of framing things and an overall understanding of using visuals. In addition he was a big fan of the movies, again he was influenced by his older brother’s tastes. Finally, his appreciation music made him understand the importance of music in films as well. Kurosawa has a gift for metaphor in writing, which shouldn’t be a surprise forma filmmaker. I like the one in the Preface, in which he compares himself to that of a potion peddler’s a toad that breaks into an oily sweat on seeing himself reflected in mirrors of four walls. My only complaint about the book is that it ends at he beginning of creative peak once he has won several international awards for his film Rashomon. I would have liked to have heard more about films like The Seven Samurai, Sanjuro, etc… That being said the reader does get an insight to what is important to Kurosawa and how he developed as an artist, but I do want to know more, so I may need to find a biography that covers those years and the subsequent years leading up to his death.
Quizás es un poco raro haber empezado a leer una autobiografía sobre alguien que no tenía idea de quién era. Y no sólo eso, sino que de un director de cine cuyas películas jamás vi. Sin embargo, un amigo mío me prestó este libro en un momento de mi vida en el que yo consideré estudiar dirección de cine, y me dijo que a él (que tiene esa misma profesión) lo había impulsado e inspirado a hacerlo.No tuvo ese mismo efecto en mí (quizás porque perdí el interés en la carrera), pero de todas maneras disfruté mucho leyendo su historia. En realidad, lo que me resultó más interesante es que es justamente eso, una historia. No es una recolección de datos, sino que Akira Kurosawa se toma el tiempo de contarnos su vida, sin quedarse solamente con las cosas relevantes a sus películas. Creo que podría decirse que muy pocas páginas del libro están dedicadas realmente a su trabajo, sino que la mayoría son anécdotas y situaciones que lo llevaron a éste. A veces incluso desvaría y lo que cuenta no tiene relación alguna con lo que vino antes o vendrá después.Es una lástima que no abarque más que sus logros alcanzados hasta 1950 y no podamos saber qué pasó después, pero no sólo saqué muchas ideas de la lectura, sino que existen historias de la realización de algunas películas que realmente dan ganas de verlas. Así que tengo mucho para ver ahora, ya que anoté una por una.
Do You like book Something Like An Autobiography (1983)?
There is nothing more enjoyable then going to a movie theater and seeing any film by Akira Kurosawa. This memoir by the master is also fantastic. His main advice for anyone to get into film is to read! Read detective stories as well as world literature. Good advice! The one picture i get in my mind is him talking about the war years - or was it the Earthquake? Anyway he mentions seeing dead bloated bodies in a river by Tokyo. The image is stark (of course) but it had traces of the master's visual sense as well.
—Tosh
Kurosawa was a true humanist. This book isn't an explanation of an artist's theories or an explication of his films--just a simple account of the memories of a very full and beautiful life. Yet Kurosawa never ignores his faults either. He just tells his story like it is. Sometimes he's so emotional, he makes me emotional just reading his earnestness, here about his directing mentor, Yama-san:"At the party celebrating completion of Tojuro's Love, Mrs. Yamamoto came and spoke to me. 'My husband was very happy. He said Kurosawa can write scripts, handle the directing, do the editing, and now the dubbing--he'll be all right.' My eyes suddenly got very hot. Yama-san was the best kind of teacher. Yama-san, I promise you I'll try a little harder, a little longer. This is the memorial speech I offer up to Yama-san."
—Nick
ما أعجبني بشدة في الأشبه بمذكرات لكيروساوا هو احساسي بالصدق الخالص فيما تناول عرضه عبر هذه الصفحات. شخصياً عند محاولاتي في تذكر ما فات من حياتي وحتي اللحظة فالحالة تكون شبه مطابقة لحالة أكيرا كوروساوا, بمعني صور من هنا وهناك أشخاص وأجواء غير واضحة المعالم, ومضات .. ولكن تأتي مواقف معينة علي مدار السنوات منذ الطفولة المبكرة وتكون واضحة تماماً بكل تفاصيلها بألوان الموقف ومشاعره وتفاعلي الخاص مع الموقف, ما قيل وما فُعِل, ما ارتديته, كيف كنت جالساً أو واقفاً .وبعض الأحيان أشخاص لم أقابلهم في حياتي الا مرة واحدة ولم يحدث أن تعارفنا بشكل عادي أو تبادلنا الأسماء حتي, مجرد جمعنا موقف أو حادثة معينين ولكن حُفِروا في ذاكرتي للتأثير الذي تركوه ولو حدث في يوم أن قررت كتابة مذكراتي مثلاً أو مسيرة حياتي فستكون كيفما فعل كيروساوا مع بضع الاختلافات الطفيفة جداً.
—Ahmad Noaman
