Shout out to the Belcourt Theater here in Nashville. My son, Jude, is quite the cinephile, as is his Dad, as was my Dad. Our regular pizza party movie nights over the years certainly had something to do with laying the groundwork, although as I often say, Jude is his own man. Anyway, the other day we were talking about Herzog or Ozu or Welles or someone and I asked him who his favorite director was and without hesitation, he said “Kurosawa.” “Me, too,” I said.
And so, recently we were both jazzed to head on down to our local art house for the New 70th Anniversary 4K DCP Restoration of the epic “Seven Samurai,” a movie we’d seen, but not on the big screen, with intermission and everything. A true masterpiece, copied by many, but never surpassed. It’s always such a pleasure to see the work of an artist, in any field, at the top of his or her game, which in this case, could apply to Kurosawa or Mifune or Shimura. Made in 1957, it’s been hallowed as the best Japanese movie ever made and is regularly cited as one of the best films of all-time, period; great characters, excellent pacing, action and pathos.
My folks weren’t big foreign film fans per se, but they were both old school movie buffs, regaling in stories of their youth, classic theaters and double bills. I have fond memories of films we went to together, while I was growing up, indelibly etched into my memory. They would’ve appreciated our night out, and of course, I thought of them, as well.
Doug Hoekstra 