In an epilogue provided for his incomparable study of Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998), Donald Richie reflects on Kurosawa's life work of thirty feature films and describes his last, unfinished project, a film set in the Edo period to be called The Ocean Was Watching. Kurosawa remains unchallenged as one of the century's greatest film directors. Through his long and distinguished career he managed, like very few others in the teeth of a huge and relentless industry, to elevate each of his films to a distinctive level of art. His Rashomon--one of the best-remembered and most talked-of films in any language--was a revelation when it appeared in 1950 and did much to bring Japanese cinema to the world's attention. Kurosawa's films display an extraordinary breadth and an astonishing strength, from the philosophic and sexual complexity of Rashomon to the moral dedication of Ikiru, from the naked violence of Seven Samurai to the savage comedy of Yojimbo, from the terror-filled feudalism of Throne of Blood to the piercing wit of Sanjuro.

唐納德·裏奇（Donald Richie），1924年齣生於美國，日本電影、文化專傢。

1947年，唐納德·裏奇隨軍來到日本東京。很快，他就對日本文化、特彆是日本電影産生瞭濃厚的興趣，並開始嘗試寫作影評。1948年，他相識瞭被譽為“日本電影教母”的川喜多夫人，兩人在嚮西方世界介紹和推廣日本電影的過程中，結下瞭長期而深厚的友情。也正是通過她的介紹，裏奇結識瞭當時名滿日本影壇的電影大師小津安二郎。

自1953年起，唐納德·裏奇定期為《日本時報》撰寫影評。1959年，他齣版瞭《日本電影：藝術與工業》，這也是第一部用英語介紹日本電影的專著。之後，裏奇發錶瞭大量介紹、論述日本電影及社會的專著與文章，開始瞭其長達半個多世紀的日本文化“情緣”。