# Akira Kurosawa: The Director Who Never Looked Away and Taught Hollywood How to See

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Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/pplpod-7466994/akira-kurosawa-the-director-who-never-looked-away-and-taught-hollywood-how-to-see.md
Podcast: [pplpod](https://stenobird.com/podcast/pplpod-7466994)
Published: 2026-06-14T20:21:11+00:00
Episode link: https://rss.com/podcasts/pplpod/2914792
Audio file: https://content.rss.com/episodes/344999/2914792/pplpod/2026_06_14_20_12_56_9fc0af68-e658-4455-bd26-4302b56eb465.mp3
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Duration seconds: 1261

## Resource

Akira Kurosawa made films of such visual power and moral seriousness that they reshaped cinema worldwide. Rashomon introduced the unreliable narrator to film. Seven Samurai became the template for every ensemble action movie. The Hidden Fortress inspired Star Wars. Yet in Japan, his uncompromising perfectionism and willingness to confront national shame made him controversial, and he attempted suicide after his industry turned against him. This episode traces Kurosawa from his samurai-class childhood through the postwar masterpieces, the Hollywood influence, the suicide attempt, and the late-career renaissance funded by his most famous admirers — Spielberg, Lucas, and Coppola. Kurosawa's samurai-descended family and his early career in Japan's wartime studio system Rashomon, Seven Samurai, and the films that made him the most influential director outside Hollywood The industry rejection, the suicide attempt, and the years of creative exile The comeback funded by Spielberg and Lucas and the late masterpieces that crowned his career

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## Transcript

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