The first Japanese director to gain an international following, Akira Kurosawa (1910–1998) maintained a career that spanned more than half a century. His early masterpieces, The Seven Samurai, Rashomon, and Ikiru, were both influenced by western cinema and, in turn, inspired generations of American and European filmmakers. (George Lucas credits Kurosawa’s Hidden Fortress as the source for his own Star Wars epic.) In cinema, as in the other arts, "late style" works are often ignored in favor of the early and mid-career works that have defined the reputation of an artist. This series suggests that the vision of this master remained undiminished throughout the later years of his remarkable career. Included is the posthumous realization of his final screenplay, After the Rain, which here receives its Boston-area premiere.