Kurosawa Breaks the Silence with a Classical Samurai Epic at Cannes

Renowned Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa finally makes a full-fledged samurai movie, The Samurai and the Prisoner, set in 16th‑century Sengoku Japan and adapted from Honobu Yonezawa’s novel; shot in a color-forward, high-contrast style, it stars Masahiro Motoki and pairs Kurosawa with his celebrated students Hamaguchi and Fukada in Cannes competition, in what he calls an anti-bushido tale about choosing life over killing, drawing on Throne of Blood, Kobayashi and Mizoguchi as influences.