1. “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

2. 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

3. 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…

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. Kurosawa Technique
The use of shapes and lines

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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