Toshiro Mifune - Interesting facts about the great Japanese actor
Even though there is always an overlap between the Western and Far Eastern worlds of entertainment, it is rather rare for Japanese actors to become as famous in Europe and North America as the Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune was in his day. Nowadays, he may no longer be known to the younger generations, leaving only question marks, but fans of classic cinema in particular will be familiar with Toshiro Mifune and know some of his films. Nicknames such as the Wolf or the Shogun are no coincidence and have also helped to shape the 1.74 metre tall actor. His skills as a Sword do not remain undiscovered.
We would therefore like to give you some more information about the work of Toshiro Mifune.
The Japanese actor was accompanied by cameras throughout his life
Mifune was born under the name Sanchuan Minlang in what is now China. However, the city of Tsingtao was under Japanese occupation when Toshiro Mifune was born on 1 April 1920. Toshiro Mifune then grew up in Dalian before setting foot on Japanese soil for the first time at the age of 21.
The camera, in front of which he later became famous, played an important role early on in his life, albeit initially in a different form. During his school years, Mifune worked in his father's photo studio, who was an importer of cameras and also ran the photo studio. He was also able to utilise this initial experience in his later work in the Japanese army, to which he was called up at the age of twenty. His job there as part of the air force was to take aerial photographs, which were used for strategic purposes by the Japanese during the Second World War.
After the end of the war, Toshiro Mifune played his first role in a film called "Shin baka jidai: kôhen", thus launching his acting career. The actor died on 24 December 1997 in Tokyo, and his grave can now be found in Kawasaki, Japan.
The connection to director Akira Kurosawa played a particularly important role
After this first film success, it was the connection to Akira Kurosawa in particular that was seen as a springboard for the actor's success. Kurosawa directed 30 films over a period of 57 years and is still one of the most important Japanese directors today. Mifune was involved in 16 of these films, which is hardly surprising given the close connection and success of the two. Many films have enjoyed worldwide success and thus contributed to the development of the famous duo.
Toshiro Mifune was known for very intense and masculine roles, which position themselves against human weakness, but ultimately show it quite often. Honesty and a certain heroism are also part of his characters.
Toshiro Mifune also became known in the western world with these classic films
Toshiro Mifune became famous thanks to a broad filmography that began with really important films in 1948 and continued until 1994, when he played his last role in the film "The Secret of the Bride". But it was with the following films in particular that Toshiro Mifune was able to achieve world fame over the course of the 20th century and become known across the entire planet:
- Yojimbo - The Bodyguard (1961)
- The Seven Samurai (1954)
- Rashomon - The Pleasure Grove (1950)
- Sanjuro (1962)
- The Castle in the Cobweb Forest (1957)
- The Hidden Fortress (1958)
- Samurai (1954)
- Angel of the Lost (1948)
- Red Beard (1965)
Particularly in the heyday of his career from the 1950s onwards, Mifune became the most famous Japanese actor on the planet, just as he was married to his wife Sachiko Yoshimine from 1950 onwards, with whom he had three children.
There is a lot of trivia about Toshiro Mifune
As with every other actor, there is a lot of trivial knowledge about Toshiro Mifune. This includes, for example, the dubbing of his films into English until his last role - even though Mifune made great efforts to learn the language. There was also a case with the Spanish language in which Mifune learnt the entire Spanish text by heart and was able to speak it. In the end, he was nevertheless synchronised.
One thing that has accompanied Mifune in many roles is his role as a samurai. Also Katana and other samurai swords were used time and time again and became influential for this. If you are also interested in owning a samurai sword - in the style of Toshiro Mifune - you have a wide range of different styles to choose from at samuraischwert.kaufen. Find what you are looking for now!
