Mifune had a kind of talent I had never encountered before in the Japanese film world. It was, above
Mifune had a kind of talent I had never encountered before in the Japanese film world. It was, above all, the speed with which he expressed himself that was astounding. The ordinary Japanese actor might need ten feet of film to get across an impression; Mifune needed only three feet. The speed of his movements was such that he said in a single action what took ordinary actors three separate movements to express. He put forth everything directly and boldly, and his sense of timing was the keenest I had ever seen in a Japanese actor. And yet with all his quickness he also had surprisingly fine sensibilities. I know it sounds as if I am overpraising Mifune, but everything I am saying is true. […] Anyway, I’m a person who is rarely impressed by actors, but in the case of Mifune, I was completely overwhelmed.— Akira Kurosawa on Toshirō Mifune, Something Like an Autobiography (trans. Audie E. Bock). -- source link
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