The Hidden Fortress: Difference between revisions
Rdmcelligott (talk | contribs) Undid revision 521133996 by MarnetteD (That's the joke! They're so sad looking their mistaken for defeated soldiers. Please rewatch the opening scene, and they were not en route to Hosokawa, they were merely escaping.) |
Rdmcelligott (talk | contribs) Undid revision 521141447 by Rdmcelligott (talk) |
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==Plot== |
==Plot== |
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The film begins with two bedraggled [[peasant]]s, Tahei and Matashichi ([[Minoru Chiaki]] and [[Kamatari Fujiwara]]), escaping the aftermath of a battle, but later captured and forced into slavery. |
The film begins with two bedraggled [[peasant]]s, Tahei and Matashichi ([[Minoru Chiaki]] and [[Kamatari Fujiwara]]), escaping the aftermath of a battle ''en route'' to the Hayakawa country where they lived, but later captured and forced into slavery. |
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After an uprising in the slave compound, Tahei and Matashichi escape and settle near a river, where they find [[gold]] belonging to the [[Daimyo]] |
After an uprising in the slave compound, Tahei and Matashichi escape and settle near a river, where they find [[gold]] belonging to the [[Daimyo]] for whom they had fought. They thereafter travel with General Rokurota Makabe ([[Toshirō Mifune]]), escorting Princess Yuki Akizuki ([[Misa Uehara (actress, born 1937)|Misa Uehara]]) and what remains of her family's gold to a secret territory. In order to keep her identity secret, Yuki poses as a mute. |
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During the mission, the peasants impede it and sometimes try to seize the gold. They are later joined by a farmer’s daughter (Toshiko Higuchi), whom they acquire from a slave-trader. Eventually, they are captured and held by Rokurota's rival; but the latter unexpectedly sides with the Princess and Rokurota. |
During the mission, the peasants impede it and sometimes try to seize the gold. They are later joined by a farmer’s daughter (Toshiko Higuchi), whom they acquire from a slave-trader. Eventually, they are captured and held by Rokurota's rival; but the latter unexpectedly sides with the Princess and Rokurota. |
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Revision as of 01:34, 3 November 2012
| The Hidden Fortress | |
|---|---|
| File:The Hidden Fortress poster.jpg Original Japanese poster | |
| Directed by | Akira Kurosawa |
| Written by | Shinobu Hashimoto Ryuzo Kikushima Akira Kurosawa Hideo Oguni |
| Produced by | Sanezumi Fujimoto Akira Kurosawa |
| Starring | Toshirō Mifune Misa Uehara Minoru Chiaki Kamatari Fujiwara |
| Cinematography | Kazuo Yamasaki |
| Edited by | Akira Kurosawa |
| Music by | Masaru Satō |
| Distributed by | Toho Company Ltd. |
Release dates | December 28, 1958 (Japan) January 23, 1962 (USA)[1] |
Running time | 139 minutes; 90 minutes (1962 USA release)[1] |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
The Hidden Fortress (隠し砦の三悪人, Kakushi toride no san akunin) is a 1958 jidai-geki[2] film directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshirō Mifune as General Rokurota Makabe (真壁 六郎太, Makabe Rokurota) and Misa Uehara as Princess Yuki. A literal translation of the Japanese title is The Three Villains of the Hidden Fortress.
Plot
The film begins with two bedraggled peasants, Tahei and Matashichi (Minoru Chiaki and Kamatari Fujiwara), escaping the aftermath of a battle en route to the Hayakawa country where they lived, but later captured and forced into slavery.
After an uprising in the slave compound, Tahei and Matashichi escape and settle near a river, where they find gold belonging to the Daimyo for whom they had fought. They thereafter travel with General Rokurota Makabe (Toshirō Mifune), escorting Princess Yuki Akizuki (Misa Uehara) and what remains of her family's gold to a secret territory. In order to keep her identity secret, Yuki poses as a mute.
During the mission, the peasants impede it and sometimes try to seize the gold. They are later joined by a farmer’s daughter (Toshiko Higuchi), whom they acquire from a slave-trader. Eventually, they are captured and held by Rokurota's rival; but the latter unexpectedly sides with the Princess and Rokurota.
The peasants stumble upon the gold, but are later captured; whereupon Rokurota explains Yuki's true identity, and states that all of the gold has been used to restore her family's domain. The peasants are then dispatched, taking a single ryō. In the final scene, Tahei gives this to Matashichi to protect; but Matashichi allows Tahei to keep it.
Production
This was Kurosawa's first feature filmed in a widescreen format, Tohoscope, which he continued to use for the next decade. Hidden Fortress was originally presented with Perspecta directional sound, which was re-created for the Criterion DVD release.
In box-office terms, The Hidden Fortress was Kurosawa’s most successful film, until the 1961 release of Yojimbo.[2]
Critical reception
Upon the film's January 1962 New York City release of a 90-minute version, Bosley Crowther wrote: "The Hidden Fortress is essentially a superficial film and that Kurosawa, for all his talent, is as prone to pot-boiling as anyone else."
Writing for The Criterion Collection in 1987, David Ehrenstein called it "one of the greatest action-adventure films ever made" and a "fast-paced, witty and visually stunning" chambara film."[3] According to Ehrenstein:[3]
"The battle on the steps in Chapter 2 (anticipating the climax of Ran) is as visually overwhelming as any of the similar scenes in Griffith's Intolerance. The use of composition in depth in the fortress scene in Chapter 4 is likewise as arresting as the best of Eisenstein or David Lean. Toshiro Mifune's muscular demonstrations of heroic derring-do in the horse-charge scene (Chapter 11) and the scrupulously choreographed swordfight climax that follows it (Chapter 12) is in the finest tradition of Douglas Fairbanks. Overall, there’s a sense of sheer "movieness" to The Hidden Fortress that places it plainly in the ranks of such grand adventure entertainments as Gunga Din, The Thief of Baghdad, and Fritz Lang's celebrated diptych The Tiger of Eschnapur and The Hindu Tomb.
Writing for The Criterion Collection in 2001, Armond White said "The Hidden Fortress holds a place in cinema history comparable to John Ford's Stagecoach: It lays out the plot and characters of an on-the-road epic of self-discovery and heroic action. In a now-familiar fashion, Rokurota and Princess Yuki fight their way to allied territory, accompanied by a scheming, greedy comic duo who get surprised by their own good fortune. Kurosawa always balances valor and greed, seriousness and humor, while depicting the misfortunes of war."[2] White also said The Hidden Fortress "clearly influenced Hayao Miyazaki's anime feature Princess Mononoke."[2]
Upon the film's UK re-release in 2002, Jamie Russell, reviewing the film for the BBC, said it "effortlessly intertwines action, drama, and comedy", calling it "both cracking entertainment and a wonderful piece of cinema."[4]
Awards
Berlin International Film Festival: Silver Bear for Best Director[5]
Influence
George Lucas has acknowledged influence of The Hidden Fortress on Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope,[6] particularly in the technique of telling the story from the perspective of the film's lowliest characters, C-3PO and R2-D2.[7][8] Kurosawa's use of frame wipes (sometimes cleverly hidden by motion within the frame) as a transition device also influenced Star Wars. Lucas' original plot outline for Star Wars also had a strong resemblance to the plot of The Hidden Fortress.[9]
Remake
A loose remake entitled Kakushi Toride no San-Akunin: The Last Princess was directed by Shinji Higuchi and released on May 10, 2008.
References
- ^ a b Crowther, Bosley (January 24, 1962). "Hidden Fortress From Japan: Kurosawa Resorts to Hollywood Effects". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
- ^ a b c d White, Armond (May 21, 2001). "The Hidden Fortress". Criterion Collection. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
- ^ a b Ehrenstein, David (October 12, 1987). "The Hidden Fortress". Criterion Collection. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
- ^ Russell, Jamie (31 January 2002). "The Hidden Fortress (Kakushi Toride No San Akumin) (1958)". BBC. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
- ^ "Berlinale: Prize Winners". berlinale.de. Retrieved 2010-01-09.
- ^ "The Secret History of Star Wars". Michael Kamiski, 2007, pg 48. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
- ^ Star Wars DVD audio commentary
- ^ "The Secret History of Star Wars". Michael Kamiski, 2007, pg 47. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
- ^ Tom Stempel (2000). Framework: A History of Screenwriting in the American Film (3 ed.). Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. p. 154 & 204. ISBN 0815606540. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
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