Paul Anderer
Mack Professor of Humanities and Professor of Japanese Literature, Columbia University
In his recent study of Kurosawa Akira’s most famous film, Paul Anderer investigates the driving forces that shaped the director’s vision: the devastation of Tokyo in the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923 and again in the fire-bombings of 1945, the young Kurosawa’s activities as a painter and socialist amid the dynamic energy of the 20s and 30s, and finally, the specter and the voice of a gifted and troubled older brother—himself a star in the silent film industry—who took Kurosawa to see his first films, and who led a rebellious life until his desperate end. In this talk, Anderer discusses the inspirations and methods that he brought to studying this celebrated director and unearthing the biography, history, and textuality behind his most iconic work.