Why Akira Kurosawa Still Runs Hollywood

Wait, Who’s Akira Kurosawa?

Okay, so let’s start here. You might not have watched an Akira Kurosawa film, but if you’ve seen Star Wars, Kill Bill, or The Dark Knight, you’ve already seen his influence in action. He’s the reason Hollywood movies look the way they do. Directors like Tarantino, Nolan, and Scorsese? All obsessed with him.

Kurosawa basically invented modern filmmaking. His stories shaped everything from Westerns to sci-fi to action flicks. And honestly, his movies still hold up today.

The Movie That Changed Everything

Kurosawa started out in the 1940s, but his big moment came in 1950 with Rashomon. It told the same event from multiple, conflicting points of view, something that felt totally new at the time. The world went nuts for it. It won the Golden Lion at Venice and got an Honorary Oscar, putting Japanese cinema on the map. More importantly, it introduced the Rashomon effect, where different characters remember the same event differently, a storytelling trick still used in movies and TV today.

Why His Films Look So Damn Good

Kurosawa didn’t just tell great stories, he made them look incredible. Some of his signature moves:

• Wipe transitions: You know those slick scene changes in Star Wars? Yeah, Kurosawa did them first.
• Epic battle shots: If there’s a dramatic fight happening in the rain, you can bet a director was inspired by Kurosawa.
• Camera movement: His action scenes feel alive because he knew exactly how to move the camera.
• Deep focus shots: He made sure everything in the frame was in focus, so no moment was wasted.