Amazon.com essential video: The 1970s were difficult years for the great Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. Following the box-office failure of his 1970 film Dodes'ka-den and an unsuccessful suicide attempt, Kurosawa was unable to find financial backing in Japan, and he made his acclaimed 1975 film Dersu Uzala in Siberia with Russian financing. With only partial Japanese backing for his epic project Kagemusha, the 70-year-old master then found American support from George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola, who served as coexecutive producers (through 20th Century Fox) for this magnificent 1980 production--to that date the most expensive film in Japanese history. Set in the late 16th century, Kagemusha centers on the Takeda clan, one of three warlord clans battling for control of Japan at the end of the feudal period. When Lord Shingen (Tatsuya Nakadai), head of the Takeda clan, is mortally wounded in battle and near death, he orders that his death be kept secret and that his "kagemusha"--or "shadow warrior"--take his place for a period of three years to prevent clan disruption and enemy takeover. The identical double is a petty thief (also played by Nakadai) spared from execution due to his uncanny resemblance to Lord Shingen--but his true identity cannot prevent the tides of fate from rising over the Takeda clan in a climactic scene of battlefield devastation. Through stunning visuals and meticulous attention to every physical and stylistic detail, Kurosawa made a film that restored his status as Japan's greatest filmmaker, and the success of Kagemusha enabled the director to make his 1985 masterpiece, Ran. --Jeff Shannon
Description: In his late color masterpiece Kagemusha (The Shadow Warrior) director Akira Kurosawa returned to the samurai film and to a primary theme of his celebrated career—the play between illusion and reality. Sumptuously reconstructing the splendor of feudal Japan and pageantry of war, Kurosawa creates a soaring historical epic that is also a somber meditation on the nature of power. The Criterion Collection is proud to present Kagemusha for the first time in its full-length version.
Some people Have Greatness Thrust Upon Them Kagamusha is such a physically beautifully film, it's that much more of a shame that the narrative isn't more powerful. In only his third color feature, Kurosawa goes all the way in presenting scene after scene in beautiful vibrant colors that leap off the screen. The colored lighting is a bit artificial but is so effectively used, I couldn't help but nod and smile when I noticed it. While Kagamusha is not a masterpiece, it is always entertaining and occassionally profound and enthralling. A strong five star film.
The narrative tends to melodrama in the presentation of slow-motion battle and after battle sequences. The overly elaborate battle sequences and the accompanying prepackaged soundtrack are the movie's only real weakness. Sometimes less is more and here Kurosawa seems to be trying too hard to impress his Western backers and redeem his image that had faltered in the 70's. It made me want to put my arm around his shoulder and say, "relax Akira, everyone knows you're a great director. Just relax and do your thing."
Kagamusha is much more watchable in the quiet sequences showing the impersonator going from scoundrel to great warrior and taking upon himself not only the burden but the personage of the deceased lord. Tatsuya Nakadai does a wonderful job portraying the lord and his shadow. He not has to play the august lord and the lowly criminal but every stage in between. A tour de force performance.
Kagamusha was Kurosawa's first bonafide success since his excellent Red Beard fifteen years earlier and is an excellent lead up to his late masterpiece, Ran. Red Beard was his last collaboration with Toshiro Mifune. They had a falling out & Kurosawa seemed to spend the next several years in the wilderness try to regroup. Two less-than-stellar efforts, some unfairly scathing reviews and a suicide attempt later, Kurosawa found himself, at 70, on the outside looking in at the industry he helped create.
Kurosawa brought Japanese cinema to the outside world and, for many years, was the only Asian director distributed to European and North American critics and audiences. The director of Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Ikiru, Rashomon, The Bad Sleep Well, Stray Dog, Red Beard, Yojimbo & High Low found himself having to seek financial backing from American directors. It is hard to imagine such incredible ingratitude on the part of the Japanese film industry & public but there it is. After making 23 movies from 1943-1965, Kurosawa would made only seven more movies before he died in 1998. Kagamusha is a rousing epic, a feast for the eyes and a must see for any Japanese cinema or Kurosawa fan.
wonderfull really, really good. great preformences with great effect. the dream sequence is really fantastic. theres alot of great acting and a perfect story. mabye its not as epic as 'Ran' in cast and size, but its so much more complex in the story and its visual aspects are very dark and brooding. definetely worth the buy!
...but picky videophiles may be slightly disappointed Kagemusha is a great movie, and for my money it is more entertaining than Ran. Kurosawa was trying to be too artsy in the latter film, which always puts me off just a little. Kagemusha tells the story in a more straightforward fashion, the acting is less exaggerated, and I think it's just more fun. However, what prompted me to review it was the visual quality, which I found a bit below what I'd expect from Criterion.
I saw the original shortened version in the theater when it was first released in USA. That was so long ago, memory won't allow me to compare with this Criterion DVD. However, the film, as noted by other reviewers, is a bit grainy. Nothing wrong with that. I like film grain, myself, as opposed to digitally smoothed visuals, which look less "organic" to me. The problem is that if you want to preserve accurately the whole visual character of the film, including the grain in the film, you need a lot of digital bits to do so. Kagemusha is three hours long. As a result, the average bitrate of the video on this DVD had to be shaved down somewhat. This leads to some "artifacts" of digital compression.
It is a small point, perhaps. But the lower bitrate does make the movie look slightly more grainy than it already is, due to digital compression. Perhaps you won't care, or even notice unless you watch on a high definition monitor, however the movie is not quite as sharp and clean as it could be.
My own preference would be for Criterion to have divided the movie in 2 parts on 2 DVDs, allowing the highest quality image possible. I don't think they quite achieved that goal with Kagemusha. Alternatively, Criterion could have applied more digital filtering to reduce the grain, and still put a three hour film on one disc.
Art injected with life This is probably Akira's most visually stunning and beautifully artistic film. The colors throughout create a glorious piece to behold. Seriously, it looks like an wondrous art gallery transfered to the screen. Kagemusha (The Shadow Warrior) hinges on perceptions and reality. It's a fable about a powerful warlord being impersonated by a petty thief. This illusion is conjoured up to disguise certain truths that would shift the momentum of power. This movie really concentrates on this facade throughout. I know there were times when I yearned for some eloquent battle sequences, like in Seventh Samurai or Ran. But Akira concentrates more on art instead of action here. He makes a certain statement on the politics of war and the nature of power. Kurosawa had difficulty getting this film financed, which is a suprise considering his brilliant career. If it hadn't been for George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola's help, this might never have been made.
A classic of early color cinematography I'm no film buff: indeed, I seem to be going through a bout of revisiting icons of my college years. Kurasawa's "Seven Samurai" left lasting memories and I wanted to see more of this great director's work. The booklet giving background to Kagemusha was very helpful to me and I found the plot twist to be one that provoked further reflection in the days after I had watched the film. It is one that I will keep and will watch again from time to time. I agree with an earlier reviewer that the film has a number of relatively static set pieces, mostly associated with clan council meetings or the reception of emissaries. There is a fascinating scene where an early "sniper" demonstrates an ingenious technique for setting up the fatal shot on which the plot turns. At times the effect is a bit "archaic" and a bit reminiscent of one of the early Russian historic "epic" films about a Prince who defeats the Teutonic knights. Still, the film held my interest all by itself, without reference to the history of the cinema.
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