I’m not sure there’s an answer to this question, but if you’re interested in throwing out ideas, then Kurosawa’s autobiography is a great place to find inspiration. Kurosawa is one of those figures who can lay claim to being a visionary. His films are meticulous, involving and intelligent, and his writing style is much the same. There’s something about the way he puts words together that reminds me of his movies. If you’re interested in gaining an insight into Japanese culture then this is also the book for you. Kurosawa explains the traditions of his way of life without overlooking the fact that he railed against many of these traditions. He lived through tumultuous times; Japan in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s underwent vast changes. We learn about the effect of the Second World War, and the death of an ancient way of life. Perhaps the pivotal moment comes with Japan’s surrender. Kurosawa describes how everyone was waiting to hear the Emperor’s address over the radio – would he instruct the public to commit suicide en masse? Instead the Emperor told the people to lay down their swords, and life went on. But Kurosawa thinks that mass suicide might well have happened in the millions on that day. It’s a mark of the quality of the writing that he makes such a terrible possibility seem understandable to us. He writes about what was lost, such as the sounds and smells of his youth, as well as what was won. His freedom to express himself artistically was a constant battle against forms of censorship. Government Review Committees often criticised his work, and he describes the rages this criticism brought on with a self-effacing embarrassment. To be honest, if I was being told to cut swathes of my work because it felt too ‘American’ in tone (any hit of romance was usually deemed to be too close to Western cinema) I’d be livid too. But still, Kurosawa doesn’t like this side of his personality. The fact that he discloses it gives some measure of his commitment to honesty in this autobiography. What makes a great film director? I don’t know. But Kurosawa’s book suggests that they are shaped from formative experiences, and that they see the world as a series of intense images that imprint upon their memory. Kurosawa describes the world he grew up in with such exact, sharp, colourful terms. It’s as much of a pleasure to read his work as to watch it. If you have any thoughts about Something Like An Autobiography we’d love to read about them in the comments section below. The next book club discussion will take place at the beginning of March, when Kaci will review The Archived by Victoria Schwab.
