 Complete the following phrase:  Production began the following April, with Kurosawa in high spirits. Shooting lasted from June 1979 through March 1980 and was plagued with problems, not the least of which was the firing of the original lead actor, Shintaro Katsucreator of the very popular Zatoichi characterdue to an incident in which the actor insisted, against the directors wishes, on videotaping his own performance. He was replaced by Tatsuya Nakadai, in his first of two consecutive leading roles in a Kurosawa movie. The film was completed only a few weeks behind schedule and opened in Tokyo in April 1980. It quickly became a massive hit in Japan. The film was also a critical and box office success abroad, winning the coveted Palme dOr at the 