Madadayo

Pros: solid filmmaking by one of the most influential directors in history

Cons: the progression and themes may feel odd for Western viewers

The Bottom Line: Legendary Akira Kurosawa leaves us with "Madadayo," his last directed motion picture. A film about life, relationships, and learned lessons.

Review: No one would argue against Japanese director Akira Kurosawa's influence on the industry. He modernized scene wipes, perfected the use of close-ups and long shots, basically invented a genre (Spaghetti Westerns), and left his die hard fans a filmography...

Pros: Gentle, funny, and lovely last film from the great master

Cons: may be too slow for most

Review: I first saw Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece "Rashomon" (1950) back in the mid-80's when my English teacher Lee Gorsuch loaned me his personal VHS copy. So it's only fitting for me that Kurosawa's beautiful and funny last film,...

Pros: thief-proofing sequence, color cinematography

Cons: too long, too drunken, too sentimental, rather static (and very talky!) scenes, boring songs

The Bottom Line: A very sentimental swan song that need not have dragged on 134 minutes.

Review: I thought that I had seen the last film by the great(est) film-maker Akira Kurosawa (1910-98), but when I saw footage of Kurosawa directing a child playing the quarry in hide-and-seek, hiding in a haystack (on a studio set) in a ...