Thank You For The Memories...

A while back I wrote a thank you letter on this blog directed at the late Akira Kurosawa. Despite my personality, it may surprise you to know there's very few things in this world that I'm truly passionate about. And I've never had a lifelong passion for anything. So, you can sort of guess where this is going.

Almost 7 years ago now I started my first movie blog, It was December of 2003 to be picky. And while I had a handful of films I knew about, to be quite frank the number of films I didn't know about was staggering (arguably it still is). I wondered through film, never really paying much attention, and only reviewing some of the basic biggies, and the ones I had seen in school.

It was around this time that someone first recommended I watch Seven Samurai, noting my enjoyment for Asian inspired film (at the time I had no clue what that meant). So I aptly did my research. 3+ hours.... black and white.... only subtitles.... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! They might as well have told me it was Chinese torture home videos, I wasn't in the least bit interested.

But alas, time passes, and as I got more and more into the world of cinema, I heard Seven Samurai mentioned more and more. So, my curiosity was spiked, and during my senior year of high school, in 2005, I sat down to see the epic.

By the time summer had ended and it was time for me to go off to college I had seen Seven Samurai 5 times, and like a drug addict I hunted down any of his other movies available on the internet (we'll leave the legality for another debate). It wasn't just that though.

Kurosawa's films inspired me to check out more classics. I started watching films like Casablanca, Le Samourai, Jules et Jim, and so on so forth. I wanted to see more and more of cinema. It was the catalyst I had been waiting for most of my life! Kurosawa was my first cinematic love. It might sound odd, but I treasure that as I do my first relationship love (which both ironically occurred during the same summer, though only one still remains muhahahah - blog should be a clue as to which). It's not often you get that kind of a bond with something, and when you find it, you've definitely got to hold onto it.

So, for all the films you've inspired me to see, and all the friends, blogging and real life, I've made because of it:

THANK YOU, Akira Kurosawa and wherever you are, Happy Centennial!

P.S. A special thanks to all of you who have taken the time to read, comment, post, etc. during my 23 days of Kurosawa. My final review: Seven Samurai is on its way!