Oil of toad

Author: Akira Kurosawa
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-11-01
Features: Before him, the Western world thought of Japan in terms of Mount Fuji, geishas, and cherry blossoms. From him onwards, the Western world thought of Japan in terms of Sony, Honda, and Akira Kurosawa. Kurosawa is the Shakespeare of cinema! — Steven Spielberg
Before enrolling at the Beijing Film Academy in 1978, I knew nothing about the art of cinema. A year later, I saw Rashomon for the first time. I was instantly captivated by it. Years later, in Cannes, France, I sat in an unremarkable spot and witnessed Kurosawa personally receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. He was beloved and revered by people both in the East and the West. I never met him, though I once had the chance. Once, when I was in Tokyo on business, a Japanese friend suggested I meet Kurosawa. I didn’t dare. No matter what, he was a globally celebrated master. At that time, in the kingdom of cinema, I was just a small figure. — Zhang Yimou (1999, Time Magazine)
The Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa was a cultural pioneer who opened up the international film market for Eastern cinema. Today, though the body of this pioneer has left us, his biography The Oil of the Toad carries on the enduring cinematic spirit of his life. This spirit, as reflected in Kurosawa’s films, is a series of ultimate philosophical questions that modern philosophy is concerned with—such as the relationship between knowledge and truth, language and reality, interpretation and purpose. (Jia Lei Lei) — People’s Literature News
This book is a late-life memoir by Kurosawa, recounting his tumultuous life journey from a frail "night crying boy" in his childhood to his obsession with painting and cinema, his enlightenment into the film industry, and finally, his rise to become a world-renowned director through films like Rashomon. It narrates the master’s ( means "" in Chinese, which I will keep as is) and his great soul of relentless progress and struggle in conquering one mountain after another.