7. Akira Kurosawa's Madayayo
Akira Kurosawa is known mainly for his samurai epics and for incorporating themes of honor amongst warriors into deeply personal narratives which makes Madayayo feel like somewhat of a departure for him. This only serves to make it that much more depressing that he never made another film. Madayayo follows the story of a teacher who wishes to not be forgotten by his students, as they take care of him in his old age, which is more of a straight drama than any other Kurosawa movie. In a way the film's protagonist, Hyakken Uchida, is a reflection of Kurosawa himself not wanting to be forgotten by the public and his fans. This gives his final movie a personal touch that can't be found in anything he had made prior. In a way, Madayayo is the most fitting farewell any artist can make to the world because it leaves people with a greater sense of who that artist was and lets them know how thankful the artist is to them. Kurosawa's movie also has all of the trademarks of his directorial style but he uses them to focus on a very intimate story instead of exploring wide landscapes and harrowing battle scenes. The way he takes a grand style of filmmaking and works it into a very small but compelling story is something to be celebrated and makes Madayayo a very emotional picture full of high quality artistry from one of cinema's great masters.