On Saturday, Oct. 14, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm, Steve Ryfle comes to the Little Tokyo Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library to present ISHIRO HONDA: A LIFE IN FILM, FROM GODZILLA TO KUROSAWA, the first major overview of the life and career of the director behind the original GODZILLA (1954) and many of its beloved sequels and spin-offs of the 1950s and ‘60s.
Ryfle is a former Los Angeles Times reporter as well as a noted scholar of Japanese science-fiction and film; he co-wrote the book with Ed Godziszewski, also a noted genre scholar. Nearly 10 years in the research and writing, the book is published by Wesleyan University Press.
Ishiro Honda’s story is about much more than monsters, however. The book chronicles Honda’s close lifelong friendship with the great Akira Kurosawa, alongside whom Honda apprenticed in the Japanese film studio system in the 1930s and with whom, five decades later, Honda collaborated on five major films including Kurosawa’s acclaimed RAN (1985).
It’s also an epic story about the horrors of war and the dreams of filmmaking, and about the perseverance of a director whose international commercial success was unparalleled in his time.
Books will be available for purchase and signing. Attendance is free. The Little Tokyo Branch also provides free valet parking (no tip required). The Library is at 203 South Los Angeles Street in Little Tokyo, Downtown Los Angeles, 90012.
