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Kagemusha - Criterion Collection Actors: Tatsuya Nakadai, Tsutomu Yamazaki Director: Akira Kurosawa Number of Items: 2 Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) Running Time: 180 minutes Studio: Criterion Collection Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2005-03-29 Buy from Amazon |
 "First rate presentation of classic Kurosawa film"Set during the 16th century when Warlords ruled Japan, "Kagemusha" focuses on the ruler Lord Shingen (Tatsuya Nakadai)leader of the Takeda clan who has held chaos and his enemies at bay for decades. His land is prosperous and doing well. When he's killed by a sniper, Shingen's brother proposes putting a double who has an uncanny resemblence to Shingen in the hopes of keeping the rival clans from invading and ousting the ruling Takeda clan out. He uses Shingen's last wish as his excuse to bring in this double a petty thief (Nakadai as well); Shingen insisted that no one be told of his death. Unfortunately, his enemeis do hear rumours of his death and they send spies in to confirm whether or not he is dead. Suddenly, the "shadow warrior" is thrust into the limelight and must lead the clan against their enemies. A staggering and stunnning epic Kurosawa's film benefits from the fact that he painted and sketched out many of the major scenes for the film over a four year period while he waited for financing for this major project. A warning to those expecting a "Die Hard" style action film; the action set pieces are stunning and brilliantly realized as only Kurosawa could do but like many of his films Kurosawa let's the story unwind at a leisurely pace. The first hour sets up the final hour and forty minutes. Painstakingly remastered using a restored high definition digital transfer, "Kagemusha" hasn't looked this good since it was originally released and I doubt that many prints were as free of dirt and debris as this version which was run through a digital filter to clean it up. There's a fine audio commentary by Stephen Prince author of "The Warrior's Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa". Prince has some very interesting insights into Kurosawa's world and that of Japanese cinema. The subtitles are much improved and easier to read as well. There's also a 48 page book featuring paintings, sketches and an interview with Kurosawa around the time of this film's release from SIGHT & SOUND magazine. There's also an excerpt from a book by Japanese film historian Donald Richie and a new eassay by film scholar Peter Grilli discussing the film and the difficulty Kurosawa had in getting the film made. The second disc features a number of great extras. There's a brand new interview with Goerge Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola discussing how they got involved in financing Kurosawa's epic film. They basically got Fox involved as distributor and co-financer with Toho studios so that Kurosawa could get it made. Ironically, both met Kurosawa but found out that the director needed financing from a third party as the director didn't feel he knew them well enough to ask for their help. There's also a 40 minute documentary on the making of the film entitled "Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create". There's also a wonderful supplement that runs about 45 minutes using Kurosawa's original paintings, sketches and drawings reconstructing much of the film showing how closely the final film matched his original paintings. Finally we get the original teasers and trailer for the film (there are on the first disc) along with a comparison between storyboard and finished film sequences. Overall a first rate presentation from Criterion and well worth the investment. I'm looking forward to their eventual release of "Ran" Kurosawa's last epic masterpiece on DVD. Nobody could interpret Shakesphere as well as Kurosawa. "A wonderful experience"I first saw this film on VHS and was delighted when it came out on DVD, especially in a Criterion edition. All right, it is slow in parts as the basis of the switch is spelled out, but then a rapid decision would be not in keeping with the period of the movie. You become immersed in the time period of the 16th Century. I feel the quality of the print is first rate, and if one compares the visual look of the preview trailer to the presented film, the difference is clear. Ironically, the Japanese trailers and teasers are visually crisp. My greatest memory from having seen the VHS version was the final battle scene and the futility of it all. Swords and spears against muskets is not a good match-up. This is not a battle scene in the spirit of The Wild Bunch, so one gets the horror of the battle through visual looks of the spectators rather than the carnage on the field, although the aftermath of the battle is clear as to the terror of the battle. I am glad Kurosawa chose not to make it a 'splatter' scene. It was if the Generals could not believe what was happening and could not adapt. The empty stools after the battle are more telling than any battle scene could be. This is a movie in the manner of great epics. They surely don't make this type of movie anymore, except on computers. The visuals are sweeping, and all of it with real people and horses. To think that the warriors were sent into battle with large flags attached to poles on their backs is amazing, and a visual feast.  "A Brilliantly Profound Artistic Journey by Kurosawa..."Over a decade before Akira Kurosawa received funding to shoot Kagemusha he pondered the idea of multiple identities and how different personalities appear in different situations. This notion was in a mere stage of a fetus around the time when he finished Red Beard (1965), but the film left Kurosawa marked as damaged goods due to his oppressive perfectionism. After this no one in Japan was willing to back him financially, but he did not give up as he attempted to create a production company with three other prominent directors from Japan. He made the brilliant Dodesukaden (1970), but it was a commercial flop that ended his production company. This was the ultimate death for his professional career in Japan, but through Hollywood he began to work on Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970). However, he left the project due to artistic discord, which tarnished his reputation even more. His life came to the ultimate bottom in December 1971 when he tried to commit suicide. As the Phoenix raised from the ashes, Kurosawa emerged from spiritual death when the Soviet Union invited him to make a film, Derzu Uzula (1975), which went on to win the Oscars for the Best Foreign film in 1976. After the Oscars in 1976 to the shooting of Kagemusha in 1979, Kurosawa returned to his roots as a painter where he amassed a large number of paintings while being immersed into Shakespeare and Japanese history. Kurosawa's paintings became advance storyboards for scenes in the film, which is loosely adapted from Shakespeare's King Lear and historical events from 16th century Japan. This occurs as his story of multiple identities and personalities slowly brewed into perfection at his final stage as a film director. Kagemusha opens with the line, "Hmmm, he looks like me.", as the camera reveals three characters all having the same appearance. In this lengthy introduction, the stationary camera reveals through minimal movements of the characters and the ongoing conversation that two of them are brothers and high ranking officials while the third is an unrelated thief. The only thing giving away that the thief is a fake is his body language and his facial expression, but when he opens his mouth it is evident who are the leader and the thief. Nonetheless, the similarities between them are striking in both their appearance and their lifestyle, but what makes the difference between them is that one of them holds the power of the province in which both live and he intends to use the thief as a body double. Shingen Takeda (Tatsuya Nakadai) and his brother Nobukado Takeda (Tsutomu Yamazaki), who took the thief as a double, are amidst a war trying to conquer the whole Japan in order to bring peace and no more bloodshed to the nation. Shingen are currently besieging a castle, as they intend to strengthen their position to achieve complete peace. During one late evening when the Shingen listens to one of the men playing a flute, a sniper injures him severely. This causes the opponents of Shingen to wonder whether he is injured or dead, as he eventually dies. However, before he died he made sure that they would keep it a secret for three years before revealing his death. Throughout this time the thief, Kagemusha, becomes the stand-in ruler for the clan while they try to maintain their geographical position for three years. Some reviews have complained about the slow pace and the length of Kagemusha. However, the length is necessary in order for the audience to completely immerse into the cinematic artistry that Kurosawa tries brings to the viewer through his ceaseless determination to create an experience. Sure, one could kill time, as Jean-Luc Godard puts it in Band of Outsiders (1964) where the characters try to run through the Louvre in less than 10 minutes. However, the purpose of visit to the Louvre is not to merely for being able to say that one has been there. Instead, it is highly recommended that one tries to take the time to understand what the artist attempts to say in each artistic work by pausing and reflecting over what they see. Kagemusha offers a wealth of artistic images drawn from paintings that go beyond colors and lines, which compels further introspective contemplating work on self and society. Thus, if the audience, expects to merely experience a sword fighting samurai film, Kagemusha will truly be a disappointment. An intertesting hypothesis could provide the notion that Kurosawa displays several of his own characteristics through his paintings, which later appeared in scenes throughout Kagemusha. For example, there is the oppressive leader who demands perfection at all costs to the unwelcome thief. Another interesting notion could be drawn from Shakespeare's King Lear where the king steps down from his position as king to later realize that it was a bad decision, as he is betrayed by his own daughters. Then there is Gloucester who tries to help Lear, but is accused of treason and left to wander the countryside blind who also attempts suicide, but is saved. The story of King Lear eventually ends up in tragedy, as does Kagemusha. Maybe Kurosawa used King Lear, as analogy to his own life, not knowing the end. This occurs as Kurosawa ultimately brings together all aspects of himself - past, present, and future. Yet, as mentioned, he did not know his future, he went on to make and direct four more films including the masterpieces Ran (1985) and Dreams (1990). "Brilliant"After seeing some of Kurosawa's early film classics I had high expectations for this later color film. To my surprise, the film turns out to be one of his best! The gorgeous cinematography and its striking approach to detail and composition place it in my list of greatest films. Criterion has done a great job - well worth the price of admission. The film also sparked some interest in me in the history of Japan and the life of Shignen. "Kurosawa, near the end and still fighting..."At this point in Kurosawa's career, he's completed the vast majority of his work, excluding Ran and Dreams, and one might think he'd tire. However, he chooses not too and puts this epic film on with the early vigor of his earlier films. Kagemusha is set in 16th century Japan, where control can be easily won or lost, but is rarely held on to for long. Yet, one emperor Shingen has managed to do so until his later years, only to be taken away by a sniper. Yet Shingen was revered, and asked that his death be hidden to keep his people's morale up, and his enemies safely away. This is a decent plan, but when the double starts feeling the conflictions of his new self and former the chances diminish. Plus, enemies are ever threatening and questioning the truth, even family connections. Sounds exciting, and for three hours it does have many fine moments, which I purport to be well worth the film. Sure, the film is slow as many Kurosawa's can be, but this is part of Japanese culture anyways, and thus adds to the overall, although one might need to remind themselves of that fact. For those not use to Kurosawa there's always the battle scenes, but the deeper conflicts is imbedded in the double (played by Tatsuya who also plays the emperor.) This double once was a thief, and in a near prince and the pauper fashion rose up, or "acted" as if he was great. Overall, I understand that many for good or bad reasons no longer feel the prevalence of Kurosawa's films, as I have trouble to do with some. Still though, this one as recent and enduring as it is may still reach those yet, as the film is meant to. |
