Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa(1910- ), began his career making propaganda films for Japan during the Pacific war. One of his early works, The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail(1945) depicted certain banned subjects and was not released until the 50s.
His first international success was Rashomon(1950) starring the inimitable Toshiro Mifune, a real-life master swordsman, who constantly appeared in Kurosawa films and became the director's alter-ego. Some of Kurosawa's most notable works are Ikiru(1952) about a dying bureaucrat (played by Takashi Shimura) who searches for his moralistic values, The Seven Samurai(1954), Yojimbo(1961) about a wandering swordsman for hire who will kill for sak�(rice wine), and its sequel Sanjuro(1962). These films explore the concept of heroism where Kurosawa focuses on men who face ethical and moral choices.
His more recent works include Ran(1985), Akira Kurosawa's Dreams(1990), Rhapsody in August(1991),and Madadayo(1993).
(Many thanks to Nobuji for the cool posters)