View Larger Image |
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 |
 "Better than RAN"Like several others who have reviewed this movie for Amazon, I too prefer Kagemusha to Ran. The story is more intriguing and unusual, and the movie asks several of the "big questions" of life: What does it mean to be a leader? Can anyone truly KNOW another person, even if you are very close to them? Does personality or individuality matter, or is form what matters? Is there any value in war when everything is laid to waste in the end? This is one of my favorite films of all time, it is somewhat long by American standards, but it is very absorbing and beautiful. I consider it a much greater and more subtle achievement than Ran. "I Want My DVD!!!!!!!"Why, oh why, is Kagemusha not available on DVD? I have seen probably a dozen of Kurosawa's movies, and Kagemusha is my favorite of them all. For the wonderful cinematography and score alone, it is deserving of a better format than VHS. "Fine precursor to the classic "Ran""Just before "Ran," Kurosawa got American funding for this movie about a "shadow warrior" who was assigned to impersonate Takeda Shingen should he die. This was to keep the Takeda clan's border secure and prevent enemies (of which Takeda had many) from invading. It is a wonderful film, and has two very strong points: the visuals, and the characters. The strong visuals should be obvious - an Akira Kurosawa film with no strong visuals is like a Monet painting with poor use of color. The battle scenes are stunning and seem to come out of a nightmare, with rifleman shooting down on soldiers with a bright light flashing behind them. The colored armor of Takeda's men were also nicely picked and, as Kurosawa would later do with "Ran", give their presense a hauntingly beautiful yet horrifying tone. The final scene at the Battle of Nagashino (which was wrongfully nitpicked in Stephen Turnbull's Osprey book of the battle) chooses to show us only the aftermath of the battle, with shots of cavalry charging to the gunners and then cutting to the horrified expressions of those who watch the unfolding massacre of Japan's greatest army. The shot of the fields of dead is some thing that could only have come out of the nightmare of war. I think the strongest part of the film, though, were the characters. The film has a slew of fascinating characters, from Takeda's generals (each with their own personality) right down to the rifleman who shot Takeda. Even the spies from Oda and Tokugawa interact and talk like real people, and I can't think of any one in this film I easily forget. I especially liked Oda Nobunaga, and I think this film has the best portrayal I've ever seen of him. He can be seen walking out with his army and stopping briefly to listen to a Christian priest give a prayer. There is another part where he rides around on an Arab horse, followed by a scene where he offers Tokugawa Ieyasu a glass of Western wine (poor Tokugawa chokes on it!). The best character is, of course, the shadow warrior himself. The actor did a wonderful job of playing Takeda and the imposter, and even though being a common thief that nearly quits his job in the beginning, you find yourself growing to like him. The scene where he confesses to the concubines he is an imposter, knowing they'll take it as a joke, and then winks at a general was hilarious! Also, notice in the scene where a retainer describes to Takeda's nephew what the meaning of the clan flag is...the imposter is listening just as intently as the boy is! He also comes out strong in the second-to-last battle sequence, where he watches as men fight and die for a man they strongly admire. The final Kurosawa metaphor at the end (which I won't describe because its a serious spoiler) also gives the whole point of the story. The man tried to undertake a role that was perhaps too big for him, a role only one man could really play. Overall, I was very impressed with this movie, and I would definately recommend it as viewing for those fans of the master of film himself. I hope soon a DVD will be released of it and I will be able to add it to my growing Akira Kurosawa DVD set. In the meantime, I happily own a video copy for viewing. "Great movie"I actually prefer Kagemusha to Ran. My Japanese language University teacher used to gripe that Kurosawa represented a "western" style of cinema, as opposed to Ozu, for instance. Ran is basically King Lear set in medieval Japan, whereas Kagemusha is more original in many ways, and less anachronistic. The themes of the Kagemusha's futile fight aganst destiny and his doppelganger-like identification with Shingen are also magnificently played. Finally, the very Japanese emphasis on passive control (Shingen's strategy is always to act as an umovable mountain on which to shatter his enemies) resonates in interesting ways. "Better than Ran"Comparing Kagemusha with Ran is a thread that runs through many of the reviews. Both are dramas centered around warlords during Japan's feudal era, and were directed by Kurosawa late in his career. Both films are visually stunning, but there are differences in how the stories are presented. Ran seems affected by its self-conscious adaptation of King Lear, and has a more theatrical (and less cinematic) feel about it. The acting is very stylized, as if in adapting Shakespeare's play Kurosawa also wanted to reaffirm the Japanese qualities through similarities to traditional ritualistic Noh dramas. The story of Kagemusha seems more of a natural portrayal in comparison. The loyalty of the thief to the warlord is perhaps a quintessentially Japanese story, and is beautifully evoked in many small scenes throughout the film. It is the battle scenes which are highly stylized in this film, as they serve to illustrate the changing fortunes of the clans, and are not centerpieces. They are a part of the amazing beauty of the film's images. One of my favorite images of all the films I have seen is that of the warlord's unhappy son plotting in a traditional room, while in the background we can see the blue of a lake being whipped up by a storm. Some people will prefer Ran, and others will like best Kurosawa's earlier and more earthy films, such as Yojimbo. They are all wonderful, but for myself Kagemusha is his crowning achievement. |
