Akira Movie Quotes

Today’s youngsters will unfortunately never know the thrills we experienced dubbing movies in the era of Rashomon.

In other words, take “myself,” subtract “movies” and the result is “zero.

Japanese anime such as Akira (Otomo, 1988), Oneamisu No Tsubasa (Wings of Honneamise, Yamaga, 1987/1994) and Kokaku kidotai (Ghost in the Shell, Oshii, 1995), and strange live-action movies such as Ganheddo (Gunhed, Harada, 1989), Tetsuo (The Iron Man, Tsukamoto, 1989) and Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (Tsukamoto, 1991) found international success.

        Godzilla’s famous roar is from a wild animal. Most movie monsters sounds are from animals. King Kong’s roar is an edited lion roar and Jurassic Park’s T-Rex roar is from the ferocious….walrus… huh… Godzilla has the most iconic roar. Strangely, it isn’t from an animal. Akira Ifukube came up with the idea for the sound by stroking a violin chord with a leather glove. I don’t know if Akira has waaaaay too much time on his hands or if he is a genius.

However, my contact with the movies at this age has, I feel, no relation to my later becoming a film director. I simply enjoyed the varied and pleasant stimulation added to ordinary everyday life by watching the motion-picture screen. I relished laughing, getting scared, feeling sad and being moved to tears.

At this time of my life I did not have a great deal of enthusiasm for Japanese movies, in comparison with foreign pictures. But my interests were still those of a child.

Movies That Grew Me Spirit of the Beehive—Victor Erice Walkabout—Nicolas Roeg Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus)—Marcel Camus Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory—Mel Stuart Ratcatcher—Lynne Ramsay Throne of Blood—Akira Kurosawa It’s a Wonderful Life—Frank Capra Drugstore Cowboy—Gus Van Sant The Deer Hunter—Michael Cimino The Wizard of Oz—Victor Fleming To Live—Zhang Yimou Persepolis—Marjane Satrapi

I don’t remember the precise contents of my essay, but I had thoroughly savored and consumed foreign films under my brother’s tutelage, and as a movie fan I found many things in Japanese cinema that did not satisfy me. I undoubtedly gave vent to all my accumulated criticisms and had a fine time doing so.

A movie director is like a front-line commanding officer. He needs a thorough knowledge of every branch of the service, and if he doesn’t command each division, he cannot command the whole.

In matters of both film and literature I owe much to my brother’s discernment. I took special care to see every film my brother recommended. As far back as elementary school I walked all the way to Asakusa to see a movie he had said was good.