NYC Happening: MIFUNE Celebrates Japanese Cinema Icon All Month

Film Forum, a long standing repertory film theater and beloved New York cultural institution, hits gold again with a month-long festival dedicated to the works of one of Japanese cinema's most revered icons, Mifune Toshiro, with 33 features culled from the libraries of The Japan Foundation and The National Film Archives of Japan.

From Film Forum's website:

"For movie lovers around the world, Mifune Toshiro (1920 - 1997) remains the lone warrior slashing his way to glory -- both Japan's John Wayne and the prototype for Clint Eastwood. But in the way he revolutionized post-war screen acting with his emotional nakedness, he was also Marlon Brando; in the way he encompassed titanic, complex, classical roles, he was Laurence Olivier. With his towering presence and seemingly endless range, there was, simply, no one like him.

"''I am a person rarely impressed by actors...but in the case of Mifune I was
completely overwhelmed. The ordinary Japanese actor might need ten feet of
film to get across an impression. Mifune Toshiro needed only three feet.' -- Kurosawa Akira."

Originally scheduled in 2020 as a centennial celebration of the actor's birthday (4/1/1920) but delayed by the Covid pandemic, MIFUNE runs February 11 to March 10 with 35mm rarities and rediscoveries. The series roster includes his well-known collaborations with director Kurosawa Akira, such as Rashomon, The Idiot, Seven Samurai, Stray Dog, Throne of Blood, The Hidden Fortress, and Red Beard, among others, as well as chanbara classics, such as the so-called Musashi Miyamoto Trilogy by Hiroshi Inagaki, and Sword of Doom and Kill! by Okamoto Kihachi.

The series also includes Snow Trail, Mifune's feature film debut by Taniguchi Senkichi, and A Wife's Heart, where he plays a romantic lead, directed by Naruse Mikio. And there are a lot more to discover.

Please visit Film Forum's website for the complete lineup.