206. AKIRA KUROSAWA: The note taker
Reading and writing. These are the two most important activities an aspiring director needs to do according to Akira Kurosawa, widely regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. Seems pretty simple right? But it took Kurosawa many years to learn how he could use his vast knowledge of literature to develop his ability as a director. He had a love for reading at a young age, devouring everything from classic Japanese samurai tales, American pulp stories to advanced Russian literature. As he put it “Whether I understood it or not, I read everything I could get my hands on.” As an 18-year old Kurosawa wanted to be a painter but failed to get into Art School. Unsure what to do next and with lots of time on his hands, he spent most of it reading, watching movies and going to art galleries. “I read classics and contemporary, foreign and Japanese literature without discrimination. I read under the covers in bed at night, I read as I walked along the street.”
However it was only when Kurosawa was a young Assistant Director, working under his mentor, the director Yamamoto Kajiro, did he approach reading in a new way. Kajiro told him “If you want to become a film director, first write scripts.” Kurosawa agreed, and after he had finished writing his first screenplay showed it to his mentor for feedback. Kajiro proceeded to quickly rewrite a scene in front of Kurosawa’s eyes that was vastly better. The young Kurosawa was “awed”. Inspired by his teacher’s ability, Kurosawa decided to re-educate himself: “From this point on, my approach to literature changed. I made a deliberate effort to change it. I began to read carefully, asking myself what the author was trying to say and how he was trying to express it. I thought while I read, and at the same time I kept notes on the passages that struck some emotional chord in me. When I reread in this new way things I had read in the past, I realised how superficial my initial reading had been.”
Kurosawa was determined to become a better screenwriter and set about writing one page a day, despite how busy he was as an AD, “There was nothing I could do about the nights I had to work till dawn, but when I had time to sleep, even after crawling into bed I would turn out two or three pages.” Writing didn’t come easy, but over time the daily struggle became a habit and Kurosawa found that like most creative endeavours, just showing up was the key, “At some point in the writing of every script I feel like giving the whole thing up. From my many experiences of writing screenplays however, I have learned something: If I hold fast in the face of this blankness and despair, adopting the tactic of Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen sect, who glared at the wall that stood in his way until his legs became useless, a path will open up.”
This complete dedication to reading and writing would be the seeds from which all of Kurosawa’s films would grow. He wrote or co-wrote every film he directed. Sometimes he would make a straight adaptation of a work, like of Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot (1951), but mostly he would use another story/novel/play as a starting off point and expand it or change it for his own original film. For instance, Rashomon (1950), which launched Kurosawa to international fame and won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, was based off two different short stories by the Japanese writer Ryunosuke Akutagawa. Throne of Blood (1957) was a Japanese version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and Ran (1985) was a retelling of King Lear. Yojimbo (1961), Kurosawa’s classic tale of a nonchalant badass samurai walking into a new town and playing the two rival gangs against each other was inspired by the hard boiled noir of Dashiell Hammett, in particular the novel Red Harvest. Kurosawa got the idea for his most famous film, Seven Samurai (1954) after reading a story about a group of samurai defending a farming village.
Now Kurosawa didn’t just steal other people’s ideas and use them for his films. He added his own experiences, his own ideas and his own culture to the story to make it his own. And just like Kurosawa would reintepret the work of others, the next generation of filmmakers would borrow heavily from Kurosawa’s own filmography. Yojimbo was remade into A Fistful of Dollars (1964) by Sergio Leone (although he borrowed a bit too heavily and was sued for copyright infringement), Seven Samurai was turned into The Magnificent Seven (1960) and perhaps most famously, The Hidden Fortress (1958) would form the genesis of a small little film you might have heard of called Star Wars (1977).
It’s easy to look at your favourite books, films or TV shows and think to yourself “How the hell do they come up with that?” or “There’s no way I could create something out of thin air like they did”, but then you discover that it’s OK to recycle and reinterpret old ideas. Suddenly creating your own art doesn’t seem as daunting when you realise even a master like Kurosawa needed help to get his stories off the ground.
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– Kurosawa’s philosophy on how important reading and writing is to a beginner filmmaker is summed up nicely in this video.
– Here’s George Lucas and Steven Speilberg giving their hero an Academy Award in 1990.
– I didn’t even touch on the brilliance of Kurosawa’s filmmaking techniques. Here’s a video by the fantastic Every Frame a Painting showing how the master used movement in cinema better than anyone else.
– All of the info and quotes used in the comic and article are taken from Kurosawa’s memoir, Something Like an Autobiography, First Vintage Books, 1983. Translated by Audie E. Bock.
In the fourth paragraph (“This complete dedication …”), you’ve mixed up the Shakespeare plays and their corresponding movies. “Throne of Blood” is Lear, and “Ran” is Macbeth.
I don’t think so. Pls check this: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Ran_(film)
Whoops, nope, guess I got those wrong. Time to go re-watch those movies. Mea culpa.
Paahahaha
Oops.. Does this extend to reading comics in bed too?? 😉
I think I needed this. My own reading and writing have been scattershot, to say the least, and then I wonder why I struggle to come up with ideas for films or comics. Thank you, sir…
Reading this made me appreciate Kindle’s highlighting feature more.
Funny how he would talk about this when so many others have used his films as inspirations for their own works. Ending is particularly funny and true to his nature! Another excellent comic!
Loved the ending 🙂
As so often happens, you – and the person you are quoting – inspire me to be more diligent, more focused, more disciplined. Thank you! (But I refuse to give up reading in bed!)
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA… Wasn’t expecting that.
I can agree: Reading books in bed is very bad for ones back.
Remember to keep 90 degree angle while reading to avoid back-problems.
“In the end we will be judged. Not by what we have destroyed…
but what we have created!”
Wilhelm Strasse.
1960.
beautiful, gav. great bio write-up as well
Loved the ending ?
As inspiring as this may be for all the writers and the people who jot down ideas and key points while reading, I would really beg to differ. I’m a biotechnologist, and mostly in my day, I read during the lunch hours, when I enjoy a quiet subway sandwich or similar with an entertaining book. The other time I can read is in transit in a bus on my way to Uni, or on my way home. Finally, after working through assignments and a whole lot of other stuff, I put my phone on charging, and read my book in bed. For me, it’s entertainment. When people try to chalk up rules on how I should entertain myself, where I should read or how I should read, I want to tell them that the best way to skydive is to do it without a parachute.
Opinions are nice, in moderation. This one in particular isn’t all that great for most people.
Cheers.
Z
P.s I’m a huge fan of your work man. I love all the comics, and I bought some at the last Delhi Comic-Con. 🙂
Couldn’t have said this better, every person has his/her own way of how they read and what they read. Gavin as always has done great work, but I don’t really feel the quote.
Yes! After working all day with under 5s, and doing all the paperwork involved (which is much more than most people realise) I read to relax and to have some chill time, not to write notes. A big fan of Gavin’s work, but this doesn’t speak to me .
I don’t think the comic above was referring to recreational reading. But that is just me.
Agreed ARVINSIM, that paticular point clearly speaks to people who create content not those that enjoy it.
The point for those who enjoy content was in the afterword, that when you find something amazing you shouldn’t think it’s beyond your own scope of talent, merely beyond your current dedication to breach it.
There is a very interesting and uplifting message about the concept of new as well that we should all appreciate whenever stories begin to feel a bit rehashed.
We also have to remember that while we all have very limited outlines we work in, love stories, war, betrayals etc. We all consume vastly different content, and itøs from these unique amalgaments of source material that the few actually new things sprout.
Agreed. This seems to me to be for people who want to create something new, not just to have fun. He is talking about his experience in writing scripts after all.
But you can apply this to other areas too, not just writing. Mathematics, for example, is best practiced and not just read out of a book. Likewise, note taking would also help musicians get ideas for and compose new pieces.
Haha, thanks for this. Really should start making notes, because the only thing that reading gives me is sleep, even though I try to stay awake.
It was William Wordsworth, Mr Kurosawa.
Always love your inspiration quotes. Kurosawa is one of my biggest inspirations in life. His films are a true masterpiece! After watching the 7 Samurai, I just fell in love with his artistic direction in movies.
“Quando mi sono ispirato (parecchio) a Yojimbo…” (Sergio Leone)
I am a big fan of your artwork. Please keep doing the good work.
Big fan here. I’ve always wondered why that, as an asian yourself, you often portray east asian characters with exaggerated yellow skin tones, instead of opting for a less stereotypical but more realistic hue. In the frame “even for single lines of dialogue I have taken…”, perhaps the more orange-y colour utilised with the robed actor may have been better suited?
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Hey! Love your comics. Always so cute and inspirational! I was wondering if you could do a quote from Shigeru Miyamoto sometime? Thanks, keep on keeping on!!
i am becoming a fan of zenpencils day by day…nice point of making notes..nice and always inspiring…the last part was too good..
I loved this…Its a nice advice to all the aspiring writers..!!
On a side note,I am so addicted to mangas that initially,I read this comic from right to left
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I thought Yojimbo was inspired by The Glass Key.
Great comic as always. CONGRATS on the success of Zenpencils. Thanks for the inspiration. -From a fellow comic creator.
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Yojimbo (1961), Kurosawa’s classic tale of a nonchalant badass samurai walking into a new town and playing the two rival gangs against each other was inspired by the hard boiled noir of Dashiell Hammett, in particular the novel Red Harvest. Kurosawa got the idea for his most famous film, Seven Samurai (1954) after reading a story about a group of samurai defending a farming village. Really?
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