“Human beings share the same common problems “Human beings share the same common problems. A film can only be understood if it depicts these properly.” – Akira Kurosawa, Director

World Cinema in the 1950’s While movie studios were struggling to survive against television in America, cinema in Europe and Asia was undergoing profound changes as well. Filmmakers were being to find their own NATIONAL voice – focusing on issues important to their society and culture Some countries were breaking away from colonial rule Improved distribution patterns gave international films greater visibility in order to reach more audiences, i.e. film festivals

Japan After WW II, Japan was in disarray As Japan rebuilt, it disregarded its military past and focused on becoming an industrialized nation, adopting many customs and values from the West As a result, filmmaking also became “Westernized” Soon, Japan would influence the West…

Akira Kurosawa During WW II, Kurosawa made propaganda films for Japan Starting his career in 1936, Kurosawa took a job as an assistant director at a new film studio, Photo Chemical Laboratories Kurosawa’s first film, Sanshiro Sugate (1943), was considered too “British-American” and was heavily censored During WW II, Kurosawa made propaganda films for Japan

Rashomon (1950) Kurosawa’s Rashomon was the first major Japanese production to enter the Western consciousness The film was groundbreaking in its theme of humanity and justice The term, “Rashomon Effect” is used in many films as a thematic style for stories that require differing points of view on the same event The film was highly disregarded by the production studio, Daiei studios and Japanese audiences

The Influence of Kurosawa Many films from Kurosawa were remade by American Studios Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai (1954) was remade by United Artists and director John Sturges as The Magnificent Seven(1960) Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress (1958) directly influenced George Lucas’ Star Wars (1977) – specifically the characters of C-3PO & R2-D2 Kurosawa’s Yojimbo (1961) was remade as the Sergio Leone spaghetti Westerns A Fistful Of Dollars starring Clint Eastwood

Kurosawa Technique The use of shapes and lines

Kurosawa Technique (Cont’d) Editing to create repetition Collaborated with actor Toshiro Mifune on sixteen films from 1948 – 1965 Focused on themes of humanism Mifune in Kurosawa’s The Bad Sleep Well

Sweden Largely escaped the violence and destruction of WW II Ingmar Bergman was essentially a one-man film industry for Swedish cinema Made roughly a film per year from 1946 until the late 1960’s

Ingmar Bergman Bergman, the son of a Lutheran minister, had a very strict upbringing Many of his films deal with morality, belief in God, and personal responsibility The Seventh Seal Parodies

India India began to separate from the British colonial rule in 1947, emerging as the world’s most populated democracy. Satyajit Ray created a series of raw personal films called the “Apu Trilogy” about life in India Heavily influenced by Italian Neorealism and director Jean Renoir, Ray took a simplistic approach to his story telling Satyajit Ray

Parallel Cinema – New Indian Cinema Parallel Cinema was a film movement that was an alternative to mainstream Indian films, which were primarily musicals – Bollywood Bollywood example – Anakarli scenes Parallel Cinema focused on realism

England Post WW II – England became known for genre films Ealing studios released mostly comedies – The Ealing Comedies – Darker comedies The Ladykillers parrot scene The Ladykillers apple cart scene

Hammer Films – BritishHorror films reborn Horror films – Hammer Films began as a small commercial genre movie studio. Then, in the 1950s, they refocused on horror and science-fiction films The Quatermass Xperiment (US title: The Creeping Unknown) Hammer films tried to capitalize on graphic and mature themes

Summary Singin’ in the Rain is a period piece film set in the late 1920’s because it is about the advent of sound in the movie industry. House of Wax had two very obvious, but not necessary to the story 3-D segments in the films: the paddleball scene and which other one? International films became more common in the late 1940s-1950s because of improved distribution patterns and more international film festivals India, in 1947, began to separate from British Colonial Rule Japan, post WWII, focused on becoming an industrialized nation and became more “Westernized” in its approach to filmmaking and selling goods Kurosawa and his films influenced many contemporary American filmmakers, including George Lucas; Kurosawa pioneered many new techniques in filmmaking, not common in that time period Swedish filmmaker, Ingmar Bergman, was the primary film force in Sweden during the 1950s; Bergman’s film focused on morality and personal responsibility Satyajit Ray was an Indian filmmaker who focused on realism, which led to the film movement known as Parallel Cinema; Parallel Cinema was an alternative to mainstream popular Indian musicals England moved towards genre films, i.e. comedies and horror films. Easling Studios became known for comedies, while Hammer Films became known for horror films