Collection: Akira Kurosawa

1910 March 23rd
Shinagawa, Tokyo
Director

After finishing Rashomon I wanted to do something with Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

In Macbeth, Kurosawa saw a contemporary issue—a parallel between medieval Scotland and medieval Japan. — Donald Ritchie

As much as I love Shakespeare, Lear has always been a play that I have found extremely dissatisfying.

Lear never reflects on his past evil or why he comes to what he is, but Hidetora [Ran] is aware that his past is catching up with him, and this in the end is the cause of him becoming mad.

About Shakespeare, I am not a specialist.

Associated Plays:

Character Arcs

The Arc of Queen ✟ Margaret
Follow Margaret from Anjou to England through the Fifth Folio. From courtly...

The Arc of Queen ✟ Margaret
The Arc of Nell 🐾 Quickly
Follow Nell Quickly through the Fifth Folio, as she weaves her way...

The Arc of Nell 🐾 Quickly
The Arc of Thomas ✟ Cromwell
Follow the character arc of Thomas Lord Cromwell through the Fifth Folio,...

The Arc of Thomas ✟ Cromwell
The Arc of Richard of Gloster ✟ King Richard III
Follow the character arc of Richard of Glocester through the Fifth Folio,...

The Arc of Richard of Gloster ✟ King Richard III
The Arc of Prince Hal ✟ King Henrie V
Follow the ultimate character arc, the evolution of a tavern's prince into...

The Arc of Prince Hal ✟ King Henrie V
The Arc of Jupiter
Jupiter's thunderclap slaps across the canon. He's given a chance to speak...

The Arc of Jupiter
The Arc of Augustus ⚱️ Caesar
Follow Augustus Caesar's rise from a political ingénue through the Fifth Folio....

The Arc of Augustus ⚱️ Caesar
The Arc of Hipolita
Follow Amazonian Hippolyta through the Fifth Folio, with direct links to the...

The Arc of Hipolita

Sorted

Folios

Þe First Folio · 1623
These are our Fifth Folio editions in a precise First Folio sequence,...

Þe First Folio · 1623
Þe Fourþ Folio · 1685
These are our Fifth Folio editions in a precise Fourth Folio sequence,...

Þe Fourþ Folio · 1685
Þe Fifþ Folio · 2026
Each play has a webpage with: a revival of the complete text;...

Þe Fifþ Folio · 2026

Utagawa Hiroshige woodblock-style triptych showing a snow-covered mountainous landscape with winding rivers, pine trees, and winter terrain rendered in a traditional Japanese ukiyo-e aesthetic.

Mountains and rivers along þe Kiso Road, by Utagawa Hiroshige

Interpretations

Orson Welles
1915 May 6thKenosha, WisconsinDirector and Actor On Hamlet's Ghost: Shakespeare played it, and...

Orson Welles
Tom Hiddleston
1981 February 9LondonActor One is so aware of the size of the...

Tom Hiddleston
Denzel Washington
1954 December 28Mount Vernon, New YorkActor I went to school a thousand...

Denzel Washington
Helen Mirren
1945 July 26thHammersmith, LondonActor The first time in fact I remember seeing drama...

Helen Mirren
Giuseppe Verdi
1813 October 9thLe Roncole, ItalyMaestro He is a favorite poet of mine,...

Giuseppe Verdi
Franco Zeffirelli
1923 February 12thFlorence, ItalyDirector and Designer [Otello] is one of the greatest...

Franco Zeffirelli
Edwin Booth
1833 November 13thBel Air, MarylandActor, Manager But Nature cast me for the...

Edwin Booth
John Gielgud
14 April 1904South Kensington, LondonActor and Director Style is knowing who you...

John Gielgud
Ian Richardson
1934 April 7thEdinburgh, ScotlandActor I took a scunner against theatre, and...

Ian Richardson
David Tennant
1971 April 18thBathgate, ScotlandActor .. modern and conversational and anarchic and inspirational .. Why...

David Tennant
Akira Kurosawa
1910 March 23rdShinagawa, TokyoDirector After finishing Rashomon I wanted to do something with...

Akira Kurosawa
Eugène Delacroix
1798 April 26thSaint-Maurice, FranceArtist He has almost made them all that they...

Eugène Delacroix

Benedict Cumberbatch
1976 July 19Hammersmith, LondonActor What made me jump now? Age, life experience most...

Benedict Cumberbatch
James Mason
1909 May 15thHuddersfield, EnglandActor My family were not movie-goers, but I got...

James Mason
Diana Rigg
1938 July 20thDoncaster, EnglandActor Diana’s demeanor in real life was most unlike...

Diana Rigg
Derek Jacobi
1938 October 22Leytonstone, Essex My parents first took me to theatre when I...

Derek Jacobi
Mark Rylance
1960 January 18Ashford, KentActor, Director [We] have a reasonable doubt that the...

Mark Rylance
Leonard Bernstein
1918 August 25Lawrence, MassachusettsMaestro I could go through any Beethoven sonata, the...

Leonard Bernstein

Reading Lens

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The Wall

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