''A.K.'' is a 1985 French documentary film directed by

Chris Marker Chris Marker (; 29 July 1921 – 29 July 2012) (born ''Christian-François Bouche-Villeneuve'') was a French writer, photographer, documentary film director, multimedia artist and Essay#Film, film essayist. His best known films are ''La Jetée' ...

about the Japanese director

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the History of film, history of cinema ...

. Though it was filmed while Kurosawa was working on ''

Ran RAN may refer to: * Radio access network, a part of a mobile telecommunication system * Rainforest Action Network * Ran (gene) (RAs-related Nuclear protein), also known as GTP-binding nuclear protein Ran, a protein that in humans is encoded by t ...

'', the film focuses more on Kurosawa's remote but polite personality than on the making of the film. The film is sometimes seen as being reflective of Marker's fascination with

Japanese culture Japanese culture has changed greatly over the millennia, from the country's prehistoric Jōmon period, to its contemporary modern culture, which absorbs influences from Asia and other regions of the world. Since the Jomon period, ancestral ...

, which he also drew on for one of his best-known films, ''

Sans Soleil ''Sans Soleil'' (; "Sunless") is a 1983 French documentary film directed by Chris Marker. It is a meditation on the nature of human memory, showing the inability to recall the context and nuances of memory, and how, as a result, the perception of ...

''. The film was screened in the

Un Certain Regard (; 'A Certain Glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films with unusua ...

section at the

1985 Cannes Film Festival The 38th Cannes Film Festival took place from 8 to 20 May 1985. Czechoslovakian filmmaker Miloš Forman served as jury president for the main competition. Yugoslavian filmmaker Emir Kusturica won the ''Palme d'Or'', the festival's top prize, for t ...

Cast

Shigehiko Hasumi Shigehiko Hasumi (蓮實重彥, aka Hasumi Shiguéhiko; born April 29, 1936 in Tokyo) is a Japanese literary critic, film critic, French literature scholar, and novelist. He was a professor at the University of Tokyo (Cultural Studies, or the "St ...

as Narration *

as narrator in the French version (voice) *

as Self *

Tatsuya Nakadai is a Japanese film actor. He was featured in 11 films directed by Masaki Kobayashi, including '' The Human Condition'' trilogy, wherein he starred as the lead character Kaji, plus '' Harakiri'', '' Samurai Rebellion'' and '' Kwaidan''. Nakada ...

as Self *

Ishirō Honda was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 46 feature films in a career spanning five decades. He is acknowledged as the most internationally successful Japanese filmmaker prior to Hayao Miyazaki and one of the founders of modern disaster film, wit ...

as Self *

Asakazu Nakai was a Japanese cinematographer born in Hyōgo Prefecture, best known for his work with Akira Kurosawa. In 1950, he won the Mainichi Film Award for Best Cinematography for '' Stray Dog''. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematog ...

as Self *

Takao Saito was a Japanese manga artist, although he rejected the term and considered his work gekiga. He was best known for '' Golgo 13'', which has been serialized in '' Big Comic'' since 1968, making it the oldest manga still in publication. ''Golgo 1 ...

as Self * Fumio Yanoguchi as Self * Takeji Sano as Self (as Takeharu Sano) *

Teruyo Nogami is a Japanese film script supervisor and author. She is best known for her work on many of Akira Kurosawa's films, a partnership that began in 1950. Life and career Nogami was born in Tokyo as the daughter of Iwao Nogami, a scholar of German ...

as Self * Fumisuke Okada as Self (as Fumisake Okada) * Vittorio Dalle Ore as Self (as Vittorio) *

Tōru Takemitsu was a Japanese composer and writer on aesthetics and music theory. Largely self-taught, Takemitsu was admired for the subtle manipulation of instrumental and orchestral timbre. He is known for combining elements of oriental and occidental phil ...

as Self * Masato Hara as Self *

Shinobu Muraki was a Japanese production designer and art director. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction for her work in Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films i ...

as Self

References

External links

* 1985 films 1985 documentary films French documentary films Documentary films about film directors and producers Films directed by Chris Marker Works about Akira Kurosawa 1980s French-language films Films produced by Serge Silberman 1980s French films {{bio-documentary-film-stub