Hilarious comments from the sets during film production, private thoughts about great movie directors around the world, opinions about the Japanese movie-going public, and a daughter’s view of daily life with the movie legend, Akira Kurosawa.
These are found in “Long Take,” a translation of the original book of essays by film director Akira Kurosawa, published in Japan in 1999. It was translated, with a new introduction, by film scholar Anne McKnight in 2025. Moreover, the book is enriched by notable contributions by Kazuko Kurosawa, the director’s daughter, who worked with him for many years as writer and wardrobe designer. “Long Take” is not long, but adds a nice annotated listing of the director’s favorite 100 films, a chronology of his life, production photographs, text notes and an index, making for a satisfying compendium for both film lovers and scholars.
Akira Kurosawa (born 1910 in Tokyo) died at home in Kyoto in 1998, having directed 30 feature films over six decades. His oeuvre covered the ground from comedies and drama to historical masterpieces. Among the films used as models for new films by other directors were “Rashomon” (1950), “Seven Samurai” (1954) and “High and Low” (1963).
A true cinephile, Kurosawa loved to view and study films worldwide, and could discuss in detail the work of directors like John Ford and Jean-Luc Godard. Later in his career, he found a welcome setting at the Cannes Film Festival among other film aficionados and producers. Such was the product of his disgust at what he considered the lack of interest in classic and international films by the Japanese public, which he blamed on the lack of theaters and outlets for these films in Japan, as compared with American and European centers of world film.
The book includes numerous discussions and interviews of Kurosawa by his close colleagues, such as directors Hisashi Inoue and Yoji Yamada. These may range from hilarious revelations of incidents on his film sets, such as the weeklong rain that plagued the shooting of battle scenes in “Seven Samurai,” to complaints that it was becoming impossible to find large plots of natural land, as well as many horses, for dramatic films, such as “Kagemusha” or “Ran.” His filming of “Dersu Uzala” in Siberia was especially difficult.
Kazuko Kurosawa contributes not only her memoir of working closely with her father at the filmmaker’s production company, but cooking and taking care of him at home after his wife, the actor Yoko Yaguchi, died in 1985. She notes his meals consisted of a lot of meat and whiskey! And much whiskey was consumed alongside his very dear friend and colleague Toshiro Mifune.
Moreover, she adeptly creates introductions to these interviews, written in his voice, as well as constructing the list of his favorite 100 films, beginning with “Broken Blossoms” (1919) by D.W. Griffith and leading up to “Fireworks” (1997) by Beat Takeshi. (He loved the multi-talented Beat, and in a photo of the two, Kurosawa is wearing an LA Lakers jersey.)
The book includes hilarious interludes caused by his lack of English skills coupled with his willingness to meet with perfect strangers. One day in New York a man came to his hotel and insisted he wanted to give the director a book but he didn’t have it and had to fly home that day. The man returned the next day, having changed his flight, with the book. Only afterwards did Kurosawa find out the man was internationally noted German director Wim Wenders. Stories of meetings with Martin Scorsese and Satyajit Ray are tucked in here, too.
Kurosawa discusses and praises his loyal and talented production company members (Kurosawa-Gumi), most of whom worked with him for decades, including his son, Hisao. The team even finished his last film “After the Rain” (1999) after their dear leader passed away. Fittingly, the production members created an interior set from the film “Ran” for Kurosawa’s memorial service in 1998, attended by 35,000 colleagues and fans.
Although numerous books have been written and published about the great artist and film creator Akira Kurosawa, this one takes a personal direction in working with his daughter Kazuko to create the close-up views of Kurosawa among his dearest colleagues, telling tales and giving opinions about his beloved film workers and audiences around the world.
Mayumi Tsutakawa is an arts writer and editor who often speaks and writes about the history of Japanese Americans including her family’s long history in Washington State. She was formerly head of grants for organizations at the Washington State Arts Commission and currently serves as an Asian film programmer for SIFF. Mayumi co-edited several multicultural anthologies, including They Painted from their Hearts: Pioneer Asian American Artists. (Photo credit: Humanities Washington)
