AKIRA KUROSAWA: A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME - film retrospective at KIKA Cinema

AKIRA KUROSAWA: A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME - film retrospective at KIKA Cinema

27–30 March 2026

The name Akira Kurosawa evokes the mythology and grandeur of postwar Japanese culture: a moment when the world marveled at the richness and diversity of East Asian cinema. Often called a general or an emperor, Kurosawa occupied a special place in that landscape. On one hand, many of his works devoted themselves to critiquing the country’s feudal legacy and postwar Japanese woes, making him almost a national auteur. On the other hand, the reach of his cinema and the scale of his interests went well beyond the Japanese islands. William Shakespeare, Fyodor Dostoevsky, the cinema of Bengali director Satyajit Ray and the dramas of Maxim Gorky are just some of the inspirations he processed in his films. Compared with the other giants of classical Japanese cinema, Kenji Mizoguchi and Yasujirō Ozu, Kurosawa appears as the creator who most successfully combined local inspirations with the Western canon and humanist values.

Schedule:

• 27 March | Friday | 18:00
  THRONE OF BLOOD | Kumonosu-jô, dir. Akira Kurosawa, Japan 1957, 110'
  website
  Shakespeare in Japanese? Kurosawa’s legendary adaptation of Macbeth is a chilling vision that blends European sources, Asian context and the director’s personal style. The dark tale of General Washizu (Toshiro Mifune) and his cunning, insidious wife Asaji (Isuzu Yamada) results from transplanting the timeless tragedy of the lust for power to 16th-century Hokkaido, and explores the price paid for crimes committed in the name of diseased ambition. Kurosawa perfectly complements Shakespeare’s dramaturgy (as he recalled, “Macbeth” was his favorite play by the Englishman) with a refined visual layer inspired by nō theatre and sumi-e ink paintings, and an expressive use of the natural world, led by fog and rain. Donald Richie called “Throne of Blood” an “icy” work — it is a formally flawless spectacle, cruel and stunningly beautiful.
• 28 March | Saturday | 17:00
  SEVEN SAMURAI | Shichinin no samurai, dir. Akira Kurosawa, Japan 1954, 207'
  website
  The greatest epic in the history of Japanese cinema. “Seven Samurai” takes us to the heart of feudal, war-ravaged 16th-century Japan. Poor villagers seek protection from bandits from equally poor ronin (wandering samurai). The alliance formed between these two classes will be tested when they together try to repel an attack by outlaws. The strength of “Seven Samurai” lies in precise, epic, detail-filled storytelling, through which we learn not only about the titular heroes but the whole village: a microcosm that could soon be in ruins. The shooting period lasted as long as 148 days; at the time of its premiere it was the most expensive Japanese film. The risk paid off: the spirit of adventure, the mastery of battle scenes and Kurosawa’s scale remain unmatched today.
• 29 March | Sunday | 18:00
  RASHOMON | Rashômon, dir. Akira Kurosawa, Japan 1950, 88'
  website
  A masterfully constructed, enigmatic and groundbreaking film by Kurosawa. The unexpected success of “Rashomon” at the Venice Film Festival in 1951 helped Japanese cinema reach the summit, and for the director it opened perhaps the most important decade of his career. The story, told by characters sheltering from the rain, of a bandit, a samurai and his wife fascinates with its ambiguity. What happened between the three of them? Who is telling the truth? Woven from alternately expressive and impressionistic moments, the film is a critique of feudal Japan (the action takes place in 12th-century Kyoto) and at the same time a commentary on a country mired in postwar crisis. In “Rashomon” philosophical speculation intertwines with a compelling vision of the past. Kurosawa’s masterpiece with Toshiro Mifune in the lead is a journey into the forest in search of a truth that may forever remain elusive.
• 30 March | Monday | 18:00
  DERSU UZALA | Dersu Uzala, dir. Akira Kurosawa, Japan/USSR 1975, 142'
  website
  The mid-1970s found Akira Kurosawa in a difficult place. The director, disappointed with both the Japanese and Hollywood film industries, attempted suicide. That gesture was interpreted as an admission that his creative powers were leaving him. From this perspective, the majestic images of the Ussuri taiga and the simple story of the hunter Dersu (Tuvan actor Maksim Munzuk) turned out to be a salvation. Produced mainly with Soviet funds and shot in Russian locations on 70mm film, “Dersu Uzala” is based on the books of naturalist and ethnographer Vladimir Arsenyev, which Kurosawa had read several decades earlier. One of the director’s favorite themes — the relationship between man and nature, old customs and modernity — finds here a painterly, lyrical development. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Partners of the retrospective:

• Stowarzyszenie Kin Studyjnych
• Awarness Distribution

Tickets: 25 zł