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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 |
 "Magnificent prequel to Ran"I orginally saw this movie on video in the late 80's. I have not been able to find it since. Considered a prequel to Ran, Kagemusha is more of a historical piece while Ran is an adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear. Beautifully shot in color, Kagemusha tells the story of the Takeda clan during the civil war period of Japan's feudal era. The head of the clan, Takeda Shingen, was considered the greatest general of his time. His presence alone kept the other great warlords at bay, namely Oda Nobunaga, the man eventually credited with uniting Japan. Mortally wounded in battle, Shingen commanded that his death be kept a secret, and his clan not move from its' mountain stronghold for three years. His double, or Kagemusha, was a common thief. His character arc, as it moves from common criminal to eventual warlord and tragic fall is magnificent. To simply label Kagemusha as a practice movie for Ran is an injustice (though accurate). If you have any interest in samurai films of feudal Japanese pieces, you wont be disappointed. "Exactly like almost any other Kurosawa movie"Exactly like almost any other Kurosawa movie; in other words, "brilliant". The scripting, acting, shooting, and directing are all absolutely wonderful. It is a film filled with emotion, pulling strings with both the delight of a child and a man's sacrifice for another man he never knew. Though it is certainly not as lighthearted (or fun) like Kurosawa's Samurai flicks (Yojimbo, Hidden Fortress), nor as epic as Seven Samurai, nor as thought provoking as Rashomon, Kagemusha holds a very prized place on my shelf of DVD's. "Beautiful images"Kurosawa's "Kagemusha" is a complicated film, and sometimes difficult to like. Kurosawa's preference for long shots and medium shots over closeups, very little cutting in dialogue scenes, and long pauses make for a slow, deliberate pace. It often feels like we're watching bits of story happening in real time; this applies to the battles as well. But these are not deficiencies. The pace (similar to the later "Ran") gives the film an almost meditative quality that you might not expect given the war setting. "Seven Samurai" it certainly is not, but it is well worth the effort. This film contains what is, to me, one of the single most beautiful images I've seen in film. At sunset, two solders of the Takeda clan are discussing whether Shingen has been killed. The image is only in silhouette against a blazingly orange-red sky, with the air full of dust as a long procession of soldiers and cavalry slowly marches by. Beautiful. The Criterion edition of this film is Kurosawa's original full-length version, not the shorter international version previously available on VHS and laserdisc in the USA. I'm eagerly waiting to see the longer version, which I'm told restores a small role played by Takashi Shimura (one of my favorite of Kurosawa's regular actors) previously excised from the international version. "An opinion from Japanese Criterion fan."It is about time to get this film's definitive version. I am Amazon user in Japan and already own the original LD release and huge, expensive DVD boxes(cost me about $1,0000.....), and I can assure you that this Criterion version will be "THE BEST" one. While Japanese version was created from same new Hi-Definition transfer, all features, three-hour movie and 45minits documentary, are bundled in dual-layered disc, which is too much to take in one, and the sound bit rate is 338kbps instead of 448kbps. I expect, likewise "Red Beard","Hidden fortress" and "Ikiru", one disc will be devoted to the feature presentation and the extra to the other disc on Criterion version so that the quality can be maximized, and can be better than original Japanese release. Still, among the Japanese original box set, I can say that the quality of "Sansiro Sugata" and two-disc set of "Seven Samurai" are great. I can't wait to see what the folks at Criterion will do to the rest of Kurosawa film releases. P.S For the first time, in documantary, Mr.Nakadai talks about taking over the title role from great Shintaro Katsu(Zatoich)who was originaly cast for Shingen and Kagemusha. Simply amazing. "A masterpiece"Another masterpiece from Akira Kurosawa. If you liked 'Ran', then you would not want to miss this poignant portrayal of a man thrust into the midst of a great conflict in a turbulent period of the Japanese history. |
