Kagemusha (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

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

Technical Specs

Runtime:

180 min 160 min (International Cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby 4-Track Stereo (Japan theatrical release)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Official submission of Japan for the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category of the 53rd Academy Awards in 1981.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

Nobukado Takeda: The shadow of a man can never stand up and walk on its own.

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Connections

References In Like Flint (1967)

User Reviews

My God, Look at Those Colors!

Akira Kurosawa is certainly one of the most important directors who ever lived. Most of his most famous films were made in the 50s and 60s. Rashomon, Ikiru, Yojimbo, and The Seven Samurai may be the four most famous films he made, and they were all in black and white. That format was wonderful. His films had a definitive look in that era.

I would like to suggest, though, that he was the single best director of the color image who has existed thus far (whose work I am familiar with). I have only seen two of his color films (I don't even know how many he made), this film and Ran, but his sense of color in these two films is exquisite. I had to pause it several times during Kagemusha just to stare at the beautiful composition.

I personally think that Kurosawa's talents rested mainly in the technical aspects of his films rather than the content (and I'm sure many people would argue against me here). So as for the film itself, I'd give it a 9/10 for two reasons. I was only emotionally involved during small sections of the film (the end was particularly powerful), and the story was somewhat difficult to follow (I was confused during Yojimbo and The Seven Samurai, too). I prefer Ran to this film (and to all the other films of his I've seen, which include Rashomon, The Seven Samurai, and Yojimbo). Still, Kagemusha is very good.