Kurosawa’s Unfinished Business

Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday that the legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, who was cremated in a nondenominational service in Tokyo on Tuesday, was working on his 31st film at the time of his death. It was to have been his first film based around female characters, and was about a group of prostitutes living in the early 17th century. Preliminary sketches of sets and exteriors for the movie had been drafted, while the script contained numerous notations by the director, including: "The bottom line is to make the film nice and stylish." Meanwhile the Japanese government has formally agreed to bestow the prestigious People's Honor Award on him.