Akira Kurosawa’s only television work—a lyrical documentary that follows a thoroughbred from birth and training to the Japan Derby—framed by a grandfather’s narration to his grandson about the fading bond between people and horses.
Directed by Akira Kurosawa and Ryō Kinoshita
human vs nature
love of animals
horse
nature
IMDB
N/A
Letterboxd
3.1 / 5
Cast
Hiroyuki Kawase
Narrator (voice)
Noboru Mitani
Narrator (voice)
Crew
Akira Kurosawa
Director
Akira Kurosawa
Writer
Masaru Satō
Original Music Composer
Takashi Koizumi
Assistant Director
Popular Reviews
7 reviews
Kanekuri
6.0★ · 04/08/26
Watched this just for the sake of completion. I like horses so it definitely wasn't a complete waste of time, but it wasn't a profound experience either.
Watched this just for the sake of completion. I like horses so it definitely wasn't a complete waste of time, but it wasn't a profound experience either.
Tommy_54
5.0★ · 12/06/24
When everybody expects you to release another monumental piece of cinema like Ikiru or Dreams, but you're just a chill guy who likes horses.
There's no way Akira Kurosawa made this.
When everybody expects you to release another monumental piece of cinema like Ikiru or Dreams, but you're just a chill guy who likes horses.
There's no way Akira Kurosawa made this.
Matt Brammer
4.0★ · 11/03/24
I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't scratch every Kurosawa film off of my list. That meant that Song of the Horse needed to be watched.
It's a documentary about the role of horses throughout history. I've never been a horse fanatic, but I spent some time around them when I was a kid. That said, if it wasn't for the fact that Akira Kurosawa directed this I never in a million years would have watched it.
It's a bit of a bore to get through. It's super slow despite only being a little over an hour. The target audience is definitely children so most of the facts that are covered in this doc are things you'll at least be familiar with especially if you've seen a decent amount of Japanese cinema.
I liked the commentators. There's some cute dialogue between the two of them and they clearly both have passion for this project. I just couldn't recommend this to anyone as I can't see many people enjoying it.
I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't scratch every Kurosawa film off of my list. That meant that Song of the Horse needed to be watched.
It's a documentary about the role of horses throughout history. I've never been a horse fanatic, but I spent some time around them when I was a kid. That said, if it wasn't for the fact that Akira Kurosawa directed this I never in a million years would have watched it.
It's a bit of a bore to get through. It's super slow despite only being a little over an hour. The target audience is definitely children so most of the facts that are covered in this doc are things you'll at least be familiar with especially if you've seen a decent amount of Japanese cinema.
I liked the commentators. There's some cute dialogue between the two of them and they clearly both have passion for this project. I just couldn't recommend this to anyone as I can't see many people enjoying it.
