Mifune: The Last Samurai

A documentary portrait of Kurosawa's muse, Toshiro Mifune, with whom Kurosawa reinvented the modern movie samurai hero. Narrated by Keanu Reeves.

"After falling into acting by accident, Mifune came to the attention of Kurosawa in the late 1940s, just as the filmmaker was finding his stride. "Mifune became Kurosawa's wild artistic id," Variety's Owen Gleiberman said of Kurosawa's trusted collaborator, "as surely as Robert De Niro was Martin Scorsese's in the '70s." Scruffy, scowling and ferocious, Mifune's performance in Rashomon was seemingly at odds with his debonair and charming true self. Oscar-winning director Steven Okazaki (Days of Waiting) skilfully plays with this dichotomy, switching from clips of Mifune's iconic roles to photos of the actor relaxing at home." (Sydney Film Festival)