Today in pretentious merch news, Criterion has announced new Criterion Channel Genre tees. For just $35 ****ing dollars you can have a shirt that simply says Foreign, or Gangster, or Monster or Screwball on the front of it. It does have the Channel logo on the back, but c'mon, who's buying this crap? I guess they're tapping that overpriced Supreme demographic.
[Show spoiler]That's a tough one to answer. Sometimes my favorite Mifune performance is the one I just finished watching. I'm just constantly amazed at his range as an actor.
This year, I had a Mifune retrospective to coincide with The Film Forum dong theirs, and I watched 17 of his films, some for the first time. I wrote some brief thoughts on some of the films here, including links to previous posts where I discussed my experience seeing films like Samurai Rebellion, and Samurai Assassin for the first time.
I think Mifune was equally at home playing serious roles, as he was playing a fool of sorts, and in many of his movies you see combinations of both. That's true for films like Seven Samurai, Red Lion, Rashomon, and Samurai Saga among others. The last one there, Inagaki's Samurai Saga was another new one for me this year, and I was really impressed by the film, and his performance, especially the final act. He's an actor that had amazing charisma, good looks, and comedic timing among other attributes.
While he is best known for Kurosawa's period/Jidaigeki films, I think some of his (and Kurosawa's) best work are in non-period films like Stray Dog, The Bad Sleep Well, and High and Low,. As noted above by Stew, Hell in the Pacific is another strong dramatic role for Mifune that he did later in his career. I also really admire his performance in films like I Live in Fear (where he's almost unrecognizable as an elderly man paranoid about the bomb), and Scandal, which aren't discussed as often. As NeilZ also mentions above, Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy is another strong performance, showing a complete character transformation over the course of the three films.
Here's a list of some of his movies that I'll try to break down by accessibility, though I may change some of them up later on:
Most Accessible: Films and performances that I think anyone watch and enjoy
Yojimbo / Sanjuro - Possibly my favorite character that he's played. I never tire of these films, and how effortlessly entertaining they are. He would continue to play a Yojimbo character in several other movies, including one with Zatoichi, though none quite as good as the Kurosawa ones.
The Hidden Fortress - I get more joy from seeing the two bumbling peasants (precursors to C3P0 and R2-D2) than I do Mifune in this one, but it is a wonderful adventure film with great scenery.
Rashomon
Seven Samurai
Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo
Red Sun
Intermediate Accessibility - Some of these may be less mainstream, and more narrow in their focus, or tone, so they may not have the same broad appeal.
Throne of Blood
The Lower Depths - I love this film. One of Kuroasawa's more underrated films. Great long takes in this one, and wonderful performances by the whole ensemble. Some consider this one of Mifune's best.
The Bad Sleep Well
Drunken Angel
High and Low
The Quiet Duel
Samurai Rebellion
I Live in Fear
Samurai Trilogy - This is somewhat accessible, though the melodramatic tone of the films may not be for everyone. The pacing, and battles are somewhat drawn out.
Stray Dog
Snow Trail
Hell in the Pacific
Least accessible - These could probably fit into the intermediate category, but they're just a little more niche, have a more complex plot, and/or more culturally specific, benefiting from having more familiarity with Japan's history or culture.
Red Lion
Vendetta of a Samurai
Samurai Assassin
Sword of Doom
Incident at Blood Pass
Chushingura (1962) (my favorite film)
I rambled on there, but hopefully some of this was helpful. While Mifune is my namesake, I'm likely not the foremost expert here on him, so I hope others like Duke can chime in here as well. There are still a couple notable ones from him that I haven't seen yet too, like Red Beard (even though I've owned the Criterion DVD for ages now )
Thanks, wow, didn't appreciate such a comprehensive response. I am archiving this on my computer and will refer to your list of movies when the time comes around to me jumping deep into movies featuring Mifune.
I think having a watch party would motivate me to watch even more, with those who love his films as well as the whole genre of Japanese cinema. No doubt, out of the 150 featured films, many people know him best via Kurosawa's movies.
Great movies are even greater when shared with others!
We tend to be ‘sky is falling’ too easily on this forum, but I hope everything is ok financially for them. They are necessary.
I always imagine Criterion being the one boutique label doing the best out of everyone, so I'm slightly surprised about the lay offs. Maybe the shirts will help bring up their revenue stream.
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