ah, okay, that's a fantastic starting point. based on that, i'd say kurosawa is not just for you—he might become one of your favorites. you've basically described the exact reasons people fall in love with his filmmaking. his visual style is legendary for the very reasons you appreciate kubrick and fricke. kurosawa started as a painter, and it shows in every frame. he didn't just point a camera at actors; he constructed living paintings. he was famous for using telephoto lenses to flatten the image, making it look like a traditional japanese scroll painting.
his action scenes are the opposite of shaky-cam, cgi-heavy chaos. they are models of clarity, geography, and consequence. when a battle happens, you understand the strategy. when a duel occurs, it’s often brutally quick and decisive, emphasizing the lethality of the sword, not a drawn-out, flashy dance. the action always serves the story and reveals character under pressure; it's never just spectacle for its own sake.
2h 40m