Kagemusha - Der Schatten des Kriegers (1980)

A petty thief with an utter resemblance to a samurai warlord is hired as the lord's double. When the warlord later dies the thief is forced to take up arms in his place.

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Masato Ide, Akira Kurosawa

Stars:

Tatsuya Nakadai, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Ken'ichi Hagiwara

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 20 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tatsuya Nakadai	...	Shingen Takeda / Kagemusha
Tsutomu Yamazaki	...	Nobukado Takeda
Ken'ichi Hagiwara	...	Katsuyori Takeda
Jinpachi Nezu	...	Sohachiro Tsuchiya
Hideji Ôtaki	...	Masakage Yamagata
Daisuke Ryû	...	Nobunaga Oda
Masayuki Yui	...	Ieyasu Tokugawa
Kaori Momoi	...	Otsuyanokata
Mitsuko Baishô	...	Oyunokata
Hideo Murota	...	Nobufusa Baba
Takayuki Shiho	...	Masatoyo Naito
Kôji Shimizu	...	Katsusuke Atobe
Noboru Shimizu	...	Masatane Hara
Sen Yamamoto	...	Nobushige Oyamada
Shuhei Sugimori	...	Masanobu Kosaka

Storyline

When a powerful warlord in medieval Japan dies, a poor thief recruited to impersonate him finds difficulty living up to his role and clashes with the spirit of the warlord during turbulent times in the kingdom.

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Plot Keywords:

double | japan | warrior | samurai | one word title | 

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Genres:

Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

Japan USA

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

10 October 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kagemusha (The Shadow Warrior)

Filming Locations:

Iga Ueno Castle - 106, Uenomarunouchi, Iga City, Mie Prefecture, Japan

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kurosawa Production Co., Toho Company, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

180 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shooting for the film lasted nine months. Almost two months of this were spent filming the final battle scenes on the Yuhara Plain in Hokkaido.

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Goofs

In the scene where Oda Nobunaga dances the Atsumori. His kimono bears the Mon (insignia) of his (then) retainer Toyotomi Hideyoshi. There's no reason indicated for why he'd do that.

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Quotes

Masakage Yamagata: How old are you, sire? Fifty-three, as I remember.
Shingen Takeda: Why?
Masakage Yamagata: And you still behave like a five-year-old child. People gather, scatter, they go left and right following their interests. That is not surprising. But then I find you like this. With such a narrow mind, you must not dream of rulership. Go back to your own domain. You are a mountain monkey. You should be gathering nuts in the mountains of Kai.

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Connections

Referenced in Fear, Panic & Censorship (2000)

User Reviews

Another Brilliant Epic

This is a great epic of war and a film of great emotion. At the center is a man who has nothing. He is thrust into a world he didn't create. He is a petty thief and really would like to just get on with his life. What he also has is great loyalty to his now deceased lord, and despite his great concern for his ability to carry it off, he agrees to the position. He has to know that at some point this will all come crashing down. The Samurai code makes it so that he has few options. He runs the war the best he can but occasionally falls victim to who he is. Even with advisers watching his every move, he becomes so much a part of the entire picture that he is left to destroy himself, and, in the process, the clan that he represents. The battle scenes are remindful of the other huge films like "Ran" and "Throne of Blood." They sweep across the screen with the flag carrying horsemen and the infantry fighting until there is nothing left but total carnage. Because of the complexity of the story and the wonderful acting, I would put this at or near the top of my Kurosawa list.