Oil of toad

Author: [Japan] Akira Kurosawa
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: Before him, the Western world thought of Japan as Mount Fuji, geishas, and cherry blossoms. From him, the Western world thought of Japan as Sony, Honda, and Kurosawa. Kurosawa is Shakespeare of the cinema! Before Stephen Spielberg entered Beijing Film Academy in 1978, I knew nothing about the art of film. A year later, I first saw Kurosawa's film Rashomon. I was instantly captivated by it. Several years later, in Cannes, France, I sat in an unremarkable spot and witnessed Kurosawa 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, I went to Tokyo on business, and a Japanese friend suggested I meet Kurosawa. I didn’t dare. Regardless, he was a globally celebrated master. In the kingdom of cinema, I was just a small figure back then.
Zhang Yimou (1999 Time Magazine)
The Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa was a cultural pioneer who opened 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, reflected in Kurosawa’s films, is a series of ultimate propositions of modern philosophy—concerning knowledge and truth, language and reality, interpretation and purpose. (Jia Lei Lei)
China Reading News
In Japan, there is a folk tale about a special toad. Compared to its kind, it is not only uglier in appearance but also has several extra legs. When people catch it and place it in front of a mirror or in a glass box, the toad sees its grotesque reflection and is so frightened that it seizes up in oil. This oil is also a precious folk remedy for treating burns and scalds. In his later years, looking back on his life, Kurosawa likened himself to a toad standing before a mirror, realizing his past flaws and being drenched in oil. This oil crystallized into this book, The Oil of the Toad. From a frail night-cry boy in his childhood, to his obsession with painting and film, to his enlightenment and entry into the world of cinema, and finally to his direction of films like Rashomon and becoming a world-class director—Kurosawa confronts his past with candor, the sweetness and bitterness of life, and his artistic insights, all pouring out in the words on the page. Like a wise and accomplished man, Kurosawa leaves us with many feelings and revelations in his subtle narration...