Photo Mode as a Tool of Historical and Cultural Interpretation: A Cinephilic Perspective on Ghost of Tsushima Through the Lens of Kurosawa Mode

Abstract

This gallery features a selection of authorial compositions created within the photo mode of Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch, 2020), employing the so-called ‘Kurosawa Mode’ – a visual and auditory stylization inspired by Japanese samurai cinema of the 1950s. The filter draws on the cinematic language of Akira Kurosawa and Masaki Kobayashi, manifesting not only in the visual layer (black-and-white imagery, film grain effect, emphasized gusts of wind), but also in the sound design, enriched with audio effects characteristic of Kurosawa’s works from that period. The dramatic light and shadow contrasts, landscape-driven storytelling, isolated characters, and carefully crafted framings in the scenes I have composed evoke not only the aesthetics of mid-20th-century Japanese cinema, but also prompt reflections on how the past is represented. Although the game is set in 13th-century Japan, many of its core elements – from the samurai ethos to motifs of high culture (such as haiku) – are reinterpretations of ideas from later historical periods, often shaped by simplifications or cultural myths. Kurosawa Mode thus functions not merely as an aesthetic device but as a tool of reinterpretation, or even as a litmus test of how genre cinema continues to shape historical imagination. Within the framework of contemporary digital culture, the ability to compose images autonomously within an interactive game world further highlights the space for cinephilic co-authorship. The player – in this case, myself – not only explores the developer-crafted representation of Japanese heritage, but also actively reshapes and reinterprets it, imbuing it with new cultural and aesthetic meaning.