Kagemusha

Japan 1980 (subtitles)
179 minutes
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Leading players - Tatsuya Nakadai, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kenichi Hagiwara

Synopsis

Kagemusha means "shadow warrior" and Tatsuya Nakadai plays a petty thief who is employed in this role by a sixteenth century Japanese warlord known as Shingen Takeda, also played by Tatsuya Nakadai.

The kagemusha disguises himself as his master and accompanies the clan into its frequent battles. Unaware of the subterfuge, the troops are both inspired by the presence of their lord and spurred on by fear of his wrath if they fail in the fight.

Unfortunately, one day Shingen is killed and to prevent loss of morale amongst the clan, it is decided his shadow warrior should assume the role full time. He is meticulously trained by Shingen's assistants and, after a while, begins to assume his double's character - but to the cost of his own personality. How long can he maintain the charade?

* * * * * *

Born in 1910 as the youngest of seven children, Kurosawa began his directing career in 1941 and very soon showed himself to have a wonderful eye and great psychological insight. He can express an enormous amount with just one short shot and all his films are deeply atmospheric. He often writes his own scripts and edits most of his films, displaying himself to be a highly versatile craftsman of the highest calibre.

He first came to the attention of Western audiences in 1951 when 'Rashomon' won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival. Four years later 'The Seven Samurai' bowled everyone over. Even Hollywood was impressed and the result was 'The Magnificent Seven' (1960). Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas helped with the funding and international distribution of 'Kagemusha'.

In the 1940-1950's Kurosawa directed at least one film every year but in the late 1960's he slowed down, though some of his best films were yet to come. At the age of 61 he attempted suicide but we are fortunate that his failure in this endeavour was followed by the resounding successes of 'Dersu Uzala' which won an Oscar for the best foreign film in 1975, 'Kagemusha' which was nominated for an Academy Award for both best foreign language film and the best art direction (Yoshiro Muraki) and 'Ran' which in 1985 received an Academy Award for best costume design (Emi Wada) and nominations for best director, best cinema-tography and best art direction (Muraki).