Yojimbo (1961)

用心棒 WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban

★ 8.7 420 ratings

Akira Kurosawa actor: Toshirō Mifune / Tatsuya Nakadai …

other title: 요짐보 / 用心棒 …

A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon and sake merchant Tokuemon to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.

Sanshiro Sugata (1943)

姿三四郎 WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban

★ 6.9 109 ratings

黑泽明 actor: 大河内传次郎 / 藤田进 …

other title: 姿三四郎 / 铁臂柔肠(港) …

The story of Sanshiro, a strong stubborn youth, who travels into the city in order to learn Jujutsu. However, upon his arrival he discovers a new form of self-defence: Judo. The main character is based on Shiro Saigo, a legendary judoka.

The Hidden Fortress (1958)

隠し砦の三悪人 WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban Skybridge +2

★ 8.0 137 ratings

Akira Kurosawa actor: Toshirō Mifune / Minoru Chiaki …

other title: 숨겨진 요새의 세 악인 / 隠し砦の三悪人 …

In feudal Japan, during a bloody war between clans, two cowardly and greedy peasants, soldiers of a defeated army, stumble upon a mysterious man who guides them to a fortress hidden in the mountains.

The Idiot (1951)

白痴 WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban

★ 5.8 24 ratings

黑泽明 actor: 原节子 / 森雅之 …

other title: 白痴 / Hakuchi …

1951 film by Akira Kurosawa

Kagemusha (1980)

影武者 WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban Bangumi +2

★ 9.0 406 ratings

黑泽明 actor: 仲代达矢 / 山崎努 …

other title: 影武者 / 影子武士 …

1980 film directed by Akira Kurosawa

The Rose in the Mud (1960)

悪い奴ほどよく眠る WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban

★ 8.4 97 ratings

黑泽明 actor: 三船敏郎 / 森雅之 …

other title: 恶汉甜梦 / 悪い奴ほどよく眠る …

In this loose adaptation of "Hamlet," illegitimate son Kôichi Nishi climbs to a high position within a Japanese corporation and marries the crippled daughter of company vice president Iwabuchi. At the reception, the wedding cake is a replica of their corporate headquarters, but an aspect of the design reminds the party of the hushed-up death of Nishi's father. It is then that Nishi unleashes his plan to avenge his father's death.

Ran (1985)

乱 WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban Bangumi +2

★ 9.1 553 ratings

Akira Kurosawa actor: Tatsuya Nakadai / Akira Terao …

other title: 란 / 乱 …

With Ran, legendary director Akira Kurosawa reimagines Shakespeare's King Lear as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan. Majestic in scope, the film is Kurosawa's late-life masterpiece, a profound examination of the folly of war and the crumbling of one family under the weight of betrayal, greed, and the insatiable thirst for power.

Dodesukaden (1970)

どですかでん WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban

★ 7.2 75 ratings

黑泽明 actor: 头师佳孝 / 菅井琴 …

other title: 电车狂 / どですかでん …

On a Tokyo dump’s shantytown edge, interwoven vignettes follow residents scraping by: a boy who “drives” an imaginary trolley, a homeless father and son designing a dream house, a young woman brutalized at home, drunks, schemers, and saints of small kindnesses. Kurosawa crafts a ragged mosaic of hardship, fantasy, and flickers of grace that keep people moving forward.

No Regrets for Our Youth (1946)

わが青春に悔なし WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban

★ 7.1 41 ratings

黑泽明 actor: 原节子 / 藤田进 …

other title: 我对青春无悔 / わが青春に悔なし …

After her anti-fascist professor father is dismissed, Yukie navigates love, political repression, and wartime upheaval—ultimately forging her own path in pre- and post-WWII Japan.

Red Beard (1965)

赤ひげ WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban

★ 8.6 132 ratings

黑泽明 actor: 三船敏郎 / 加山雄三 …

other title: 붉은 수염 / 赤ひげ …

Aspiring to an easy job as personal physician to a wealthy family, Noboru Yasumoto is disappointed when his first post after medical school takes him to a small country clinic under the gruff doctor Red Beard. Yasumoto rebels in numerous ways, but Red Beard proves a wise and patient teacher. He gradually introduces his student to the unglamorous side of the profession, ultimately assigning him to care for a prostitute rescued from a local brothel.

Sanjuro (1962)

椿三十郎 WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban

★ 8.7 261 ratings

黑泽明 actor: 三船敏郎 / 仲代达矢 …

other title: 츠바키 산주로 / 椿三十郎 …

Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Kurosawa's tightly paced, beautifully composed "Sanjuro." In this companion piece and sequel to "Yojimbo," jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a proper samurai on its ear.

Ikiru (1952)

生きる WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban Eggplant.place +2

★ 9.2 360 ratings

Akira Kurosawa actor: Takashi Shimura / Haruo Tanaka …

other title: Vivere / 生きる …

Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.

Dreams (1990)

夢 WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban

★ 8.3 358 ratings

黑泽明 / 本多猪四郎 actor: 寺尾聪 / 倍赏美津子 …

other title: 꿈 / 夢 …

A collection of magical tales based upon the actual dreams of director Akira Kurosawa.

The Seven Samurai (1954)

七人の侍 WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban Bangumi Min reol Eggplant.place +4

★ 9.4 859 ratings

黑泽明 actor: 三船敏郎 / 志村乔 …

other title: 七武士 / 七人の侍 …

A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food.

Throne of Blood (1957)

蜘蛛巣城 WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban Bangumi +2

★ 8.2 260 ratings

黑泽明 actor: 三船敏郎 / 山田五十铃 …

other title: 거미집의 성 / 蜘蛛巣城 …

Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the spirit's prophecy comes true, Washizu's scheming wife, Asaji, presses him to speed up the rest of the spirit's prophecy by murdering his lord and usurping his place. Director Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan is one of his most acclaimed films.

Rashomon (1950)

羅生門 WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban Bangumi +2

★ 8.8 1164 ratings

Akira Kurosawa actor: Toshirō Mifune / Machiko Kyō …

other title: 라쇼몽 / 羅生門 …

Brimming with action while incisively examining the nature of truth, "Rashomon" is perhaps the finest film ever to investigate the philosophy of justice. Through an ingenious use of camera and flashbacks, Kurosawa reveals the complexities of human nature as four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.