The Barefoot Serpent
by Scott Morse
Lowdown: Really liked it. A short biography of Akira Kurosawa, the great film maker, divided by a beautifully minimal and poignant story that pays homage to Kurosawa, his films and the themes of those films. Moving and magical.
I’ve never seen an Akira Kurosawa film. Which surprises me, because I love movies so much (since reading this, I’ve added a few to my Netflix queue). Morse recounts Kurusawa’s life through brief narration and beautiful full-page paintings. Kurosawa’s story frames the book, divided by a fictional story of a family struggling with a recent tragedy.
Told in black and white, I really enjoyed the form Morse chose: three horizontal panels on each page, sometimes spanning two pages. I have a feeling this was done on purpose, to make the comic movie-like. I am amazed at what Morse can do with so little. The art evokes all of the emotions in the story: very little dialog and no narration.
I’m not familiar enough the Kurosawa’s films to comment on the symbolism of the story. Fortunately, Morse has an afterword that explains most of it. If you’ve never read a Morse story before, this is a good place to start. My emotional reaction reminded me of Soulwind.
