“Serpent’s Path”: Kurosawa Kiyoshi Remakes His Own Film in a French Setting

© 2024 Cinéfrance Studios/Kadokawa Corporation/Tarantula

Director Kurosawa Kiyoshi and lead actress Shibasaki Kō on the set of Serpent’s Path. (© 2024 Cinéfrance Studios/Kadokawa Corporation/Tarantula)

The 2024 version of Serpent’s Path opens on a normal residential street in Paris. (© 2024 Cinéfrance Studios/Kadokawa Corporation/Tarantula)

One of the many scenes in the 2024 version inspired by the original Serpent’s Path. (© 2024 Cinéfrance Studios/Kadokawa Corporation/Tarantula)

Damien Bonnard, at left, plays Albert Bachelet. Bonnard was nominated for a César Award for Best Actor for the 2019 Les Misérables, Ladj Ly’s directorial debut. (© 2024 Cinéfrance Studios/Kadokawa Corporation/Tarantula)

Nishijima Hidetoshi, standing, plays the role of Yoshimura, a patient treated by Sayoko. This is his fifth appearance in a Kurosawa film. (© 2024 Cinéfrance Studios/Kadokawa Corporation/Tarantula)

Serpent’s Path features some of France’s finest actors in powerful performances. Laval (Mathieu Amalric, right) and Guérin (Grégoire Colin) are kidnapped and chained up. (© 2024 Cinéfrance Studios/Kadokawa Corporation/Tarantula)

The main character has a spouse, which differs from the original. The fact that Sayoko remotely talks to her husband (Aoki Munetaka) in Japan is an example of how the film portrays a modernized setting. (© 2024 Cinéfrance Studios/Kadokawa Corporation/Tarantula)

With her “snake eyes,” Sayoko silences the executive who once ran the shadowy foundation that the protagonists believe is involved in the murder. (© 2024 Cinéfrance Studios/Kadokawa Corporation/Tarantula)