So what will become of this script that the following report, reports on? What director will grab it, who will make it, and how will it turn out. Or will it just end up joining the list of projects that never move forward. The coming months will tell, so keep you eyes and ears open for information about the project...
this is a report from a local newspaper here in japan, the daily Yomiuri. Kurosawa's final script portrayed Edo prostitutes
Yomiuri Shimbun
Director Akira Kurosawa's plan for his 31st production, fated never to materialize, was a depiction of the lives of prostitutes in the Edo era (1603-1868), The Yomiuri Shimbun learned Tuesday.
The prolific filmmaker's trademark was his vivid portrayal of stout-hearted male heroes, but the planned film was to be his first movie built around female characters.
The script for the unfinished film, which includes detailed notes of the director's plans for the film's dramatic presentation, bears eloquent witness to Kurosawa's deep emotional involvement in the project.
The script was adapted by Kurosawa himself from two short stories written by Shugoro Yamamoto (1903-1967), a novelist widely known for his period novels.
The script is dated Dec. 1, 1993, the year Kurosawa's last film, "Madadayo" was released. The script has been delivered to a number of people, including actress Mieko Harada.
Sources close to the late director said Kurosawa intended to set the movie in brothels at a coastal resort.
The main characters were to be a parsimonious prostitute who pretends that she once was married to a samurai, and a prostitute who falls in love with a customer, despite being warned not to enter into romantic relationships with her customers.
Yoshiro Muraki, who for a long time worked as Kurosawa's theatrical artist, sketched a plan for the set of the movie. With this blueprint, the director developed a picture in his imagination of Edo-period prostitute quarters.
Kurosawa sketched details of the set, including exteriors, rooms in the brothels, and a ship.
At the end of the script are remarks concerning presentation that read as follows: "The bottom line is to make the film nice and stylish. It is set during the Edo period in Fukagawa, where truly stylish Edoites used to gather.
"Hair styles for both men and women should be compact, with only a little hair oil. Makeup for female characters has to be different from that worn by Kyoto women, and it should be light.
"The massive topknots of samurai and the exceedingly decorative chignons of women we see in current period dramas are in bad taste. Some actors nowadays even wear fake eyelashes--oh my goodness, it's the end of the world!"
Kurosawa asked Harada in spring 1994 if she was willing to appear in the movie. Harada was expecting a baby at the time. As he had told her the previous year not to get pregnant, she was hesitant to commit herself to the film.
When Harada told Kurosawa of her pregnancy, she said he replied warmly, "I can wait for a few months."
