[1] An updated version detailing Kurosawa's late period making films was released after the director's death in 2005.
[3] Organised into nine chapters in the revised and expanded edition, it works through the entirety of Kurosawa's filmography as a director, starting with Sanshiro Sugata.
Prince employs a thematic approach, applying literary criticism in combination with an explanation of Kurosawa's cinematic grammar to analyse the development of his style; situating this in context that he draws from Kurosawa's life and information drawn in part from Donald Richie's notes.
Joanne R. Bernardi of Ibaraki University stated that the book "is a valuable study".
[2] Arthur Noletti, Jr. of Framingham State College described the book as "ambitious",[4] and that it is "thoughtful, stimulating, and rigorous".