One of Marty’s favorite cinematographers, Akira Kurosawa pioneered the samurai genre with classics like The Seven Samurais and The Hidden Fortress, but his oeuvre embraces simpler, more poignant films like Ikiru and Dreams, too. Whether he worked with a large or small budget, Kurosawa was able to infuse his stories with that same classic quality.
In the portrait, Marty depicts Kurosawa in his signature proletarian hat and glasses, and the bottom left of the design bears the quote, “Like a salmon, I cannot forget where I was born”--reflecting Kurosawa’s philosophy of staying true to one’s roots.
Akira Kurosawa continues to influence cinematography today in films such as Star Wars, the magnificent seven and more.
