Kudo Kankuro’s “A Town Without Seasons” Shines Bright as the Tragedy Unfolds After the Release of Akira Kurosawa’s “Dodesukaden”

However, without sponsors, director Kurosawa mortgaged his home to raise the production funds. Then, he constructed an open set on a garbage dump of about 10,000 square meters in the Edogawa Ward of Tokyo, sourcing building materials from the piles of garbage. The film was completed in just 28 days, becoming a low-budget movie. Yet, the film itself was not critically panned; it even earned a nomination for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 44th Academy Awards, but it was a commercial failure.

“Director Kurosawa found himself deeply in debt, and the following year, he attempted suicide at his home. While he survived without any serious injuries, Kurosawa himself never disclosed the reasons behind the incident. The American media reported that he was removed as the director of the 1970 Japanese-American co-production film ‘Tora! Tora! Tora!’ midway through, which was cited as the cause.

The reason for the interruption in filming was announced unilaterally by the American production company as Director Kurosawa suffered from a mental illness. It was reported that this shock led to his suicide attempt. However, Chieyo Nogami, a renowned scriptwriter for Kurosawa’s films since ‘Rashomon,’ expressed in an interview (distributed in Cinema Today in June 2008) that she believed the suicide attempt was influenced by the failure of ‘Dodesukaden.'” (Same Movie Magazine Editor)

 

Daughter Kurosawa Kazuko also spoke about this in the article “The Emperor of the Film World, Akira Kurosawa: The Crown of the Shocking Razor Suicide Attempt” published in “Daily Shincho” on May 8, 2017.

“Rather, my father’s distress was intertwined with the decline of Japanese cinema. He made efforts to revitalize the film industry and felt responsible for it. He reflected on his own limitations and gradually crumbled due to the fragility of his innocence.”