Mythical components on the cinema of Akira Kurosawa

Mythology, which is one of the oldest disciplines of human history, still exists in the consciousness of contemporary society. Myths and legends are fictional stories that reflect the foundations of whatever tradition and order they belong to. Moreover, they have a strong relation with ideology, folklore, religion and art. And cinema is a kind of social output that reflects the religious, ideological and mythical subconcious of the community where it is produced. Akira Kurosawa is not only one of the most important directors of Japanese Cinema, but also one of the world-famous directors who use mostly mythical elements in their films, probably because of his ethnic origin and religious belief. Although his cinema is analysed excessively on cinematographic aspect, his films are not discussed efficiently about their relation with the mythology. Therefore, the main problem of this research is about how Kurosawa is influenced by being a japanese who has a Shinto belief which comes from a mythical origin and how they are reflected in Kurosawa's cinema. On the basis of these problems of this research, it is aimed to analyse how Kurosawa's mythical and shintoist background effected his cinema and to reveal which direction this mythic influence change into. Key Words: Cinema, Myths, Collective Unconscious, Japanese Culture, Japanese Mythology, Shinto, Japanese Cinema, Akira Kurosawa.