Kagemusha (1980)

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Akira Kurosawa
Masato Ide

Release Date:

6 October 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Japan | Warrior | Double | Martial Arts | Horse

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 20 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

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
Kota Yui	...	Takemaru
Yasuhito Yamanaka	...	Ranmaru Mori
Kumeko Otowa	...	Takemaru's Nurse
Tetsuo Yamashita	...	Nagahide Niwa
Kai Atô	...	Zenjiro Amemiya
Takashi Ebata	...	Monk
Hiroshi Shimada	...	Jingoro Hara
Yu Shimaka	...	Jingoro Hara
Toshiaki Tanabe	...	Kugutsushi
Yoshimitsu Yamaguchi	...	Salt Vendor
Eiichi Kanakubo	...	Kenshin Uesugi
Akihiko Sugizaki	...	Noda Castle Soldier
Yugo Miyazaki
Masatsuga Kuriyama
Norio Matsui	...	Tadatsugu Sakai
Jirô Chiba		(as Jiro Yabuki)
Yasushi Doshida	...	Kazumasa Ishikawa
Takashi Watanabe
Nobaru Sone	...	Heihachiro Honda (as Nori Sone)
Eihachi Ito
Senkichi Ômura
Takashi Shimura	...	Gyobu Taguchi
Kamatari Fujiwara	...	Doctor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Shû Nakajima
Francis Selleck	...	Priest (as Francis Seleck)

Directed by
Akira Kurosawa

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Masato Ide
Akira Kurosawa

Produced by
Audie Bock	....	assistant producer
Francis Ford Coppola	....	executive producer: international version
Akira Kurosawa	....	executive producer
Akira Kurosawa	....	producer
George Lucas	....	executive producer: international version
Tomoyuki Tanaka	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Shinichirô Ikebe

Cinematography by
Takao Saitô
Shôji Ueda		(as Shoji Ueda)

Art Direction by
Yoshirô Muraki

Costume Design by
Seiichiro Hagakusawa

Makeup Department
Yoshiko Matsumoto	....	hair stylist
Shigeo Tamura	....	hair stylist
Junjirô Yamada	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Akira Fujita	....	unit production manager
Toshiaki Hashimoto	....	production manager
Toshiaki Hashimoto	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ishirô Honda	....	second unit director
Hideyuki Inoue	....	assistant director
Takashi Koizumi	....	assistant director
Fumiryo Okada	....	chief assistant director
Takao Okawara	....	assistant director

Art Department
Aki Saburagi	....	assistant art director
Hatsumi Yamamoto	....	property master

Sound Department
Ichirô Minami	....	sound effects editor
Mamoru Yamada	....	assistant sound recordist
Fumio Yanoguchi	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Naomi Hashiyama	....	still photographer
Satoshi Kurikihara	....	assistant lighting technician
Tamio Matsuo	....	assistant camera
Kazuo Miyagawa	....	consultant: photography
Asakazu Nakai	....	consultant: photography
Takeji Sano	....	lighting technician

Editorial Department
Yoshihiro Iwatani	....	assistant editor
Tome Minami	....	negative cutter

Music Department
Kotaro Saito	....	conductor

Transportation Department
Isamu Miwano	....	transportation

Other crew
Audie Bock	....	assistant to producer (international version)
Francis Ford Coppola	....	presenter
Masa Furugawara	....	scene shifter
Toshi Hasegawa	....	horseback riding instructor
Shinobu Hashimoto	....	production advisor
Hiroaki Honda	....	acting office
Ishirô Honda	....	directorial advisor
Ishirô Honda	....	production coordinator
Ryû Kuze	....	instructor: samurai etiquette
George Lucas	....	presenter
Teruyo Nogami	....	assistant to producer
Teruyo Nogami	....	script supervisor
Donald Richie	....	subtitle supervisor (US version)
Donald Richie	....	subtitler (international version)
Takao Saitô	....	production advisor
Tamihei Shirai	....	horseback riding instructor
Ishirô Honda	....	creative consultant (uncredited)
Michael Rich	....	assistant to director (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Kurosawa Production Co.
• Toho Company
• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (in association)

Distributors

• Toho Company (1980) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1980) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Fox (1980) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Abril Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• CBS / Fox Video (1984) (Greece) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2009) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Fox Video (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Gativideo (2004) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Nihon Eiga Satellite Broadcasting (2011) (Japan) (TV)
• Svensk Filmindustri (SF) (2004) (Sweden) (DVD)
• WoWow (2012) (Japan) (TV)

Special Effects

• Toho Special Effects Group

Other Companies

• Ehime Castle  
• Iga Ueno Castle  
• JAL  
• Kumamoto Castle  
• Kyoto Costumes  costumes
• Mimatsu  costumes
• New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra  orchestra
• Toho Recording Center  sound re-recording
• Toho Sound Effects Group  sound effects
• Toho Studios  sound stages
• Tokyo Concerts  orchestra

Also Known As:

Runtime:

180 min | Argentina:162 min | USA:162 min

Country:

Japan | USA

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG | Iceland:12 | South Korea:12 (1998) | Portugal:M/12 | Australia:PG | Sweden:15 | Peru:14

Filming Locations:

Gotemba, Shizuoka, Japan

Company:

Kurosawa Production Co.

Trivia:

The battle scenes utilized hundreds of horses and thousands of extras. According to George Lucas, the picture had five thousand extras in the film's battle sequence finale which depicted the Battle of Nagashino of the year 1575.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Kagemusha is being ejected from the Takeda clan compound, he is seen with his left arm in a dark purple-colored cloth sling, which covers most of his hand and forearm. As the camera shot changes to a slightly longer shot, the sling is suddenly much narrower, exposing much more of his hand and forearm.

Quotes:

Shingen Takeda:I am wicked, as you believe. I am a scoundrel. I banished my father and I killed my own son. I will do anything to rule this country. War is everywhere. Unless somebody unifies the nation and reigns over us, we will see more rivers of blood and more mountains of the dead.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Weakest link: Hitori gachi no hôsoku: Episode dated 15 July 2002" (2002)

One of the best serious samurai-movies

This film is one of Kurosawa's masterpieces and gives an profound insight in the pre-Tokugawa period of Japan. Especially remarkable is the very elaborated atmosphere of this film to which contribute the pure and simple dialogues and the use of very well-made sceneries. Kurosawa's favorite actor Tatsuya Nakadai is here at his best. Although the atmosphere is very elaborated and almost perfectly historic; tension of the viewer is heightened by the simplicity of the scenes. Kurosawa leaves certain parts to the viewer's imagination rather than showing it. The movie is highly philosophical as well as emotionally touching and presents the soul of the way of samurai and Japan's old samurai system much better and more serious than countless cheap- and bad-made martial arts movies about samurai. This is a warning to all who expect fast martial arts action and blood covered katana. This film is a Kurosawa-style mixture between opulent costume- drama, a philosophic and tragic story and the sensitivity only Kurosawa has displaying Japan's traditional way-of-life.