These Were Akira Kurosawa's Favorite Films Of All Time

There's no doubt that Akira Kurosawa is one of the most influential names in movies today, or at least very high on the list. Without Kurosawa, we might not have the spaghetti western, "Star Wars," or even Shakespearean adaptations as we know them. His work served as a template for some of the most well-known films of the 20th century, and he continues to influence films today. But what influenced Kurosawa?

Like all great directors, Kurosawa loved movies. He drew as much inspiration from filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola and Ingmar Bergman as they drew from him — and he wasn't shy about acknowledging those he liked best. In "Yume wa tensai de aru" ("A Dream is a Genius"), Kurosawa's posthumous memoir, the famed director actually included a list of his top 100 films. His daughter, Kazuko Kurosawa, noted that selecting a clean 100 was not an easy task (via IndieWire):

"My father always said that the films he loved were too many to count, and to make a top ten rank. That explains why you cannot find in this list many of the titles of the films he regarded as wonderful. The principle of the choice is: one film for one director, entry of the unforgettable films about which I and my father had a lovely talk, and of some ideas on cinema that he had cherished but did not express in public. This is the way I made a list of 100 films of Kurosawa's choice."

The list is organized chronologically, and at first glance, reads a lot like the curriculum of your average film studies class: Charlie Chaplin's "The Gold Rush," Satyajit Ray's "Pather Panchali," Cocteau's "Orpheus," and "Paris, Texas" all make the cut. It's an excellent list for a burgeoning cinephile starting their journey into global cinema. But upon closer inspection, a few outliers begin to reveal themselves. That Kurosawa only picked one film for each director likely forced him to choose between a few very robust oeuvres. Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Werner Herzog and Bergman all feature on his top 100 — but not necessarily in the ways you would expect.

Kurosawa picked "The Godfather Part II" over the one that started it all. Scorsese's "King of Comedy" also trumps films like "Taxi Driver" and "Goodfellas," a choice that's earned a raised eyebrow from many. All things considered, that makes perfect sense: while Kurosawa loved pulp and noir, he also enjoyed comedy, even absurdism. Scorsese's satire also tells its story from the perspective of the lowliest character — a technique perfected by Kurosawa in "The Hidden Fortress."

Then of course, there's the elephant in the room: no Orson Welles. "Citizen Kane" is obviously a notable film, but maybe it wasn't Kurosawa's cup of tea. The omission of Welles in any capacity also points to the lack of Shakespeare adaptations on the director's list. It makes me wonder whether Kurosawa had the chance to catch Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet," or what he thought about Lawrence Fishburne's portrayal of Othello. How did he feel about other directors' takes on Shakespeare?

It's easy to split hairs over Kurosawa's bigger snubs, but the list is, after all, subjective. It covers a lot of cinema's greatest hits, but its purpose is to preserve the films that touched Kurosawa specifically. That the original "Godzilla" and Hayao Miyazaki's "My Neighbor Totoro" made the list, and that his favorite Hitchcock film was "The Birds" and not "Rear Window," feels more endearing than incendiary. It's wonderful that Kurosawa and his daughter made the effort of compiling a list at all. Discussing his personal picks must have been such an experience, and by sharing it, it feels like the conversation can continue.

Check out the list of Kurosawa's top films below.

1. Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl – Griffith, 1919.

2. Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari [The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari] – Wiene, 1920.

3. Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler – Ein Bild der Zeit (Part 1 – Part 2) [Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler] – Lang, 1922.

4. The Gold Rush – Chaplin, 1925.

5. La Chute de la Maison Usher [The Fall of the House of Usher] – Jean Epstein, 1928.

6. Un Chien Andalou [An Andalusian Dog] – Bunuel, 1928.

7. Morocco – von Sternberg, 1930.

8. Der Kongress Tanzt – Charell, 1931.

9. Die 3groschenoper [The Threepenny Opera] – Pabst, 1931.

10. Leise Flehen Meine Lieder [Lover Divine] – Forst, 1933.

11. The Thin Man – Dyke, 1934.

12. Tonari no Yae-chan [My Little Neighbour, Yae] – Shimazu, 1934.

13. Tange Sazen yowa: Hyakuman ryo no tsubo [Sazen Tange and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo] – Yamanaka, 1935.

14. Akanishi Kakita [Capricious Young Men] – Itami, 1936.

15. La Grande Illusion [The Grand Illusion] – Renoir, 1937.

16. Stella Dallas – Vidor, 1937.

17. Tsuzurikata Kyoshitsu [Lessons in Essay] – Yamamoto, 1938.

18. Tsuchi [Earth] – Uchida, 1939.

19. Ninotchka – Lubitsch, 1939.

20. Ivan Groznyy I, Ivan Groznyy II: Boyarsky Zagovor [Ivan the Terrible Parts I and II] – Eisenstein, 1944-46.

21. My Darling Clementine – Ford, 1946.

22. It's a Wonderful Life – Capra, 1946.

23. The Big Sleep – Hawks, 1946.

24. Ladri di Biciclette [Bicycle Thieves] – De Sica, 1948.

25. Aoi sanmyaku [The Green Mountains] – Imai, 1949.

26. The Third Man – Reed, 1949.

27. Banshun [Late Spring] – Ozu, 1949.

28. Orpheus – Cocteau, 1949.

29. Karumen kokyo ni kaeru [Carmen Comes Home] – Kinoshita, 1951.

30. A Streetcar Named Desire – Kazan, 1951.

31. Thérèse Raquin [The Adultress] – Carne 1953.

32. Saikaku ichidai onna [The Life of Oharu] – Mizoguchi, 1952.

33. Viaggio in Italia [Journey to Italy] – Rossellini, 1953.

34. Gojira [Godzilla] – Honda, 1954.

35. La Strada – Fellini, 1954.

36. Ukigumo [Floating Clouds] – Naruse, 1955.

37. Pather Panchali [Song of the Road] – Ray, 1955.

38. Daddy Long Legs – Negulesco, 1955.

39. The Proud Ones – Webb, 1956.

40. Bakumatsu taiyoden [Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate] – Kawashima, 1957.

41. The Young Lions – Dmytryk, 1957.

42. Les Cousins [The Cousins] – Chabrol, 1959.

43. Les Quarte Cents Coups [The 400 Blows] – Truffaut, 1959.

44. A bout de Souffle [Breathless] – Godard, 1959.

45. Ben-Hur – Wyler, 1959.

46. Ototo [Her Brother] – Ichikawa, 1960.

47. Une aussi longue absence [The Long Absence] – Colpi, 1960.

48. Le Voyage en Ballon [Stowaway in the Sky] – Lamorisse, 1960.

49. Plein Soleil [Purple Noon] – Clement, 1960.

50. Zazie dans le métro [Zazie on the Subway] – Malle, 1960.

51. L'Annee derniere a Marienbad [Last Year in Marienbad] – Resnais, 1960).

52. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? – Aldrich, 1962.

53. Lawrence of Arabia – Lean, 1962.

54. Melodie en sous-sol [Any Number Can Win] – Verneuil, 1963.

55. The Birds – Hitchcock, 1963.

56. Il Deserto Rosso [The Red Desert]- Antonioni, 1964.

57. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – Nichols, 1966.

58. Bonnie and Clyde – Penn, 1967.

59. In the Heat of the Night – Jewison, 1967.

60. The Charge of the Light Brigade – Richardson, 1968.

61. Midnight Cowboy – Schlesinger, 1969.

62. MASH – Altman, 1970.

63. Johnny Got His Gun – Trumbo, 1971.

64. The French Connection – Friedkin, 1971.

65. El espíritu de la colmena [Spirit of the Beehive] – Erice, 1973.

66. Solyaris [Solaris] – Tarkovsky, 1972.

67. The Day of the Jackal – Zinneman, 1973.

68. Gruppo di famiglia in un interno [Conversation Piece] – Visconti, 1974.

69. The Godfather Part II – Coppola, 1974.

70. Sandakan hachibanshokan bohkyo [Sandakan 8] – Kumai, 1974.

71. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest – Forman, 1975.

72. O, Thiassos [The Travelling Players] -Angelopoulos, 1975.

73. Barry Lyndon – Kubrick, 1975.

74. Daichi no komoriuta [Lullaby of the Earth] – Masumura, 1976.

75. Annie Hall – Allen, 1977.

76. Neokonchennaya pyesa dlya mekhanicheskogo pianino [Unfinished Piece for Mechanical Piano] – Mikhalkov, 1977.

77. Padre Padrone [My Father My Master] P. & V. Taviani, 1977.

78. Gloria Cassavetes, 1980.

79. Harukanaru yama no yobigoe [A Distant Cry From Spring] – Yamada, 1980.

80. La Traviata – Zeffirelli, 1982.

81. Fanny och Alexander [Fanny and Alexander] – Bergman, 1982.

82. Fitzcarraldo – Herzog, 1982.

83. The King of Comedy – Scorsese, 1983.

84. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence – Oshima, 1983.

85. The Killing Fields – Joffe 1984.

86. Stranger Than Paradise – Jarmusch, 1984.

87. Dongdong de Jiaqi [A Summer at Grandpa's] – Hou, 1984.

88. Paris, Texas – Wenders, 1984.

89. Witness – Weir, 1985.

90. The Trip to Bountiful – Masterson, 1985.

91. Otac na sluzbenom putu [When Father was Away on Business] – Kusturica, 1985.

92. The Dead – Huston, 1987.

93. Khane-ye doust kodjast? [Where is the Friend's Home] – Kiarostami, 1987.

94. Baghdad Cafe [Out of Rosenheim] – Adlon, 1987.

95. The Whales of August – Anderson, 1987.

96. Running on Empty – Lumet, 1988.

97. Tonari no totoro [My Neighbour Totoro] – Miyazaki, 1988.

98. A un [Buddies] – Furuhata, 1989.

99. La Belle Noiseuse [The Beautiful Troublemaker] – Rivette, 1991.

100. Hana-bi [Fireworks] – Kitano, 1997.