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 Katsu — creator of the very popular Zatoichi character — due to an incident in which the actor insisted , against the director 's 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 d'Or at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival in May , though some critics , then and now , have faulted the film for its alleged coldness . Kurosawa spent much of the rest of the year in Europe and America promoting '' Kagemusha '' , collecting awards and accolades , and exhibiting as art the drawings he had made to serve as storyboards for the film
1980 Cannes Film Festival
1980 Cannes Film Festival
Akira Kurosawa