Akira Kurosawa made a movie by taking the methods of classic Hollywood and adding some changes of his own according to the social and cultural characteristics of Japan. The so-called take the essence and get rid of the dross, and go beyond the realm of classic Hollywood. So if you like classic Hollywood, if you like Ford or Westerns, you will definitely like Akira Kurosawa's movies; if you want to learn from the good things in the treasure trove of classic Hollywood, then Akira Kurosawa must be the best reference.
"Wild Dog" is a Kurosawa Akira movie that obviously borrows from classic Hollywood. For example, the confrontation between Shimura Joe and Mifune, one old and one young, one slow and one fast, is common in Western films (see Anthony Mann's "Tin Star" Or Ford's The Searcher, etc.), linear narrative sequence, camera pans and pulls as the characters move, etc. More importantly, this film, shot in 1949, has shown many of the typical styles of Kurosawa. In the next 20 years, all of Kurosawa's films are basically this way, until the tram in 1970. mad.
Kurosawa's films are generally tragic structures, showing ugly and cruel social environments, especially the reflection of reality. For example, in "Wild Dog", Nakamura dressed as a homeless man and looked for a gun dealer on the street. A large number of disolves are intertwined. , showing the ruined post-war Japan, which is very sad. But after these sorrows, he always followed Kurosawa's hope for human nature. He always expressed his hope implicitly or explicitly. In "Wild Dog", Nakamura's boss always comforted him and let him Don't resign and don't be discouraged. The director played by Mifune in "Heaven and Hell" did not sacrifice the driver's son for his own son, and at the end of "Rashomon", the woodcutter took the baby even more so. I think the difference from Hollywood is that Hesawa is neither a simple cynical social observer who makes people completely desperate, nor is he a simple American idealist who believes that everything is beautiful. Sadness prompted him to write stories, and whenever he needed to make a choice, he would choose the positive side. This was not only the depression he inevitably had as a Japanese who had experienced World War II, but also his role as an Aries (birthday). It is the result of the combination of the underlying optimistic factors in the human character.
Akira Kurosawa's camera movement always follows the movement of the actor. His camera position generally keeps a certain distance from the actor, and he always shoots at different angles from multiple cameras at the same time. He likes the overhead shot at the top and has a strong sense of space. , The composition is also very clever, he can always find the best angle to capture the most beautiful picture, such as (4). For example, at the beginning of the scene, Nakamura found that he had lost his gun and went to chase the thief. In this scene, Nakamura immediately ran out of the car when he found that the gun was missing. (1) When he got out of the car, he switched to the top shot, and suddenly changed from the crowded (2) Then Nakamura chases the thief on the road, the thief is in front, Nakamura is behind, and the camera is placed on the push rail to shoot a long shot of them running and chasing, which is definitely a Western concept. ; (3) When Nakamura followed the thief and looked around anxiously at the intersection, the camera followed him constantly, giving the audience a direct sense of observation. In this scene, there is no dialogue. A few simple sets of motion shots smoothly and truly capture Nakamura's anxiety. I like this scene very much.
Kurosawa's duel game design is his specialty, which is learned from cowboy duels in western movies. In period dramas, samurai fight with swords. In modern dramas, they draw guns. But Kurosawa is not making westerns. He doesn't pay much attention to love, hate, and hatred, because the difference between his filmmaking and Hollywood is that he did not shoot to cater to the public's preferences, but he was just too good to be recognized by the public. . Therefore, the tension in Kurosawa's game is not for revenge, but to reflect the humanity that Kurosawa has always emphasized. (5) Kurosawa was caught in the duel between Nakamura and Yuzuo with the sound of the piano in the distance, and then used a telescopic lens to photograph the changes in Nakamura's face, reflecting his inner panic and struggle, and then let the two scuffle among the flowers , The children singing in the distance and the flowers, blue sky and sunshine made You Zuo give up his resistance completely and cry bitterly. It can be said that this is Akira Kurosawa's genius. He is not better at designing confrontation than Hollywood directors. It is not just the confrontation between two people and two guns in Hollywood duel scenes, but the confrontation between tension and relaxation, beauty and suffering. Akira Kurosawa's artistic skills are at their best here.
It should be said that Kurosawa is an artistic director who humbly learns from Hollywood. He borrows skills from genre films to make non-genre films. This is similar to the European directors who were led by the New Wave and the German New Film Movement after the golden age of Hollywood to learn from classic Hollywood. are coincidental. Of course, Japanese films themselves have a tradition of imitating Hollywood, and Akira Kurosawa is turning this mere imitation into selective learning. The fundamental difference between Akira Kurosawa and Hollywood is that he will not give up his understanding of art and thinking about reality in order to cater to commercial interests and public tastes. In the face of box office failure, he would rather choose suicide than surrender. This kind of Persistence has made him rely on Hollywood funds to regain his influence, which cannot be said to be an irony for Japanese movies. At the same time, Akira Kurosawa's innovations and changes did not challenge the audience's aesthetics, nor did it violate the logic of the public. He always showed his ideas in a moderate and controlled manner. I think this degree of control is a Japanese producer. The excellent inheritance of the factory system, Kurosawa and the previous generation of directors of Kurosawa are not arbitrary or exaggerated, but the generation of the Japanese New Wave and their descendants, the 80s and 90s, this The degree of control gradually disappeared. Although the style is diversified, it is obviously easy to lose control, and the ideas are mostly empty.
Let's talk about the anti-war significance of "Wild Dogs". In the 10 years after the end of World War II, a large number of post-war films reflecting the trauma of the war were born, especially the three Axis countries. The Germans filmed "The Murderer is in Us". In the middle, I have recommended it before, the expressionism is strong, the narrative is direct, not emphasizing human nature, but more emphasizing hatred. Italy is a whole new realism movement. Two great masters, Desica and Rossellini, put the whole post-war Italy on the screen. Desica, in particular, reflected the reality through the fate of the little people, but the reflection on the war was insufficient. Because after all, Italy is a complete supporting role in the Axis powers, not the main initiator. The Italians are not like Germany or the Japanese who have come from the frenzy of war, so they are more concerned about the depression after the war and the situation of the characters. desolate. For Japan, there are many reflections on the war. Kurosawa's "Wild Dog" is very obvious, but it is only discussed from the perspective of the war's suppression and destruction of human nature and the destruction of society and the country. I think this aspect is similar to Japan's The right wing is still dominant in society as a whole, and on the other hand, it is also the way that Kurosawa himself has naturally chosen as a person who has experienced the trauma of war, and who has always opposed war from a human point of view. The post-war films of this period in the United States, such as Wheeler's "Golden Age", discussed the issue of how society accepts veterans. It can be said that the angle is different, but the angle chosen by the wild dog is undoubtedly the most clever one. It is not a straightforward story to tell a painful story. Even as the biggest victim of the war, You Zuo, did not appear until the end of the film. Kurosawa borrowed the sins of You Zuo and the explanations of the people around You Zuo to reflect this person who did not appear. The misfortune on the body, this kind of sin is reflected through the description of the police and the grief of the victim's relatives, all of which are indirect and devious, and even use symbolic methods. This is also what Kurosawa wants to say to him. Great artistic handling.
Therefore, Akira Kurosawa learned from Hollywood and surpassed Hollywood. He did not let himself fall into the shackles of genre film business while learning Hollywood, but successfully combined his artistic skills with it to form his own style. , so as to reach the pinnacle of film art.
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