SnoopyStyle
Tahei and Matashichi are two greedy bumbling peasants in feudal Japan. They are late to fight in a battle for the Yamana clan against the defeated Akizuki clan and end up digging graves. In the chaos, they escape and encounter General Rokurōta of the Akizuki clan hiding in the Hidden Fortress with Princess Yuki Akizuki and the remaining family gold. After Rokurōta's sister sacrifices herself in the princess' place, he takes the princess to a friendly ally. He tricks the two fools to carry the gold while the tomboy princess pretends to be mute. After witnessing an enslaved girl mistreated, the princess gets Rokurōta to purchase her.The great Akira Kurosawa made this samurai adventure comedy. The two foolish peasants are kind of funny. I imagine that they are a whole lot funnier back in the day for a Japanese audience. The culture, language and time differences do create a distance for a modern English audience. They are obviously broadly comical.
tieman64
Set during the Sengoku period (1460s-1600s), Akira Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress" stars Minoru Chiaki and Kamatari Fujiwara as Tahei and Matashichi, a pair of squabbling peasants. The duo roam the Japanese countryside, doing their best to avoid bands of marauding soldiers."Hidden's" first act watches as Tahei and Matashichi are manipulated by Rokurota Makabe (Toshiro Mifune), a cunning samurai general. Promising the greedy peasants mountains of gold, he uses them as camouflage in his attempts to transport a princess (Misa Uehara) across enemy lines."What you make of another's kindness is up to you," Kurosawa has character's say. Kindness is something the film's princess learns, as she witnesses first-hand the sacrifices of her bodyguard, General Makabe, and the suffering of the peasants who live outside her castle walls. Kindness is also something General Rokurota must grapple with. He's a rival warrior with whom General Makabe fights an extended battle. During this battle, Makabe's objective is not to kill, but to frustrate, to deflect, to guide his belligerent opponent away from a fixation upon military solutions."The Hidden Fortress" is one of Kurosawa's more playful films. Part comedy, part adventure, part action epic, the film boasts glorious widescreen photography, a jaunty plot, some fine compositional work and the shortest short shorts ever worn by a princess. Aesthetically, the film's the bridge between Eisenstein, Ford and later imitators like Lucas and Leone. Indeed, George Lucas would lift chunks of "Hidden Fortress" for the plot of his "Star Wars", especially Kurosawa's notion of a tough, imperious princess.Though a bit long-winded, a number of Kurosawa's action sequences still pack a punch. One sequence in particular recalls Eisenstein's Odessa Steps sequence in "Battleship Potemkin". Elsewhere Kurosawa stages a sequence in which General Makabe – cool, tough and resourceful - pursues enemy scouts all the way back to their base, a scene which would influence the speeder bike chase in George Lucas' "Return of the Jedi". Lucas would help a financially-strapped Kurosawa get his 1980 film, "The Shadow Warrior", produced. Indeed, Lucas would be indirectly responsible for two of Kurosawa's greatest epics ("The Shadow Warrior" and "Ran"). Every good apprentice lends their master a helping hand.8/10 – See "Throne of Blood" and "Twilight Samurai".
TheLittleSongbird
What a wonderful movie! In my top 5 Kurasawa movies for sure alongside Seven Samurai, Ran, Throne of Blood and Yojimbo. As always it is superbly directed, and looks amazing especially in the once again epic scenery and use of CinemaScope. The music score is suitably lively(though my favourite score of any of Kurasawa's movies is still Ran), the script is literate and amusing and the story compels. The action sequences are beautifully choreographed and exciting and the comedy puts a smile on my face. The acting is just as accomplished as ever, with Toshiro Mifune giving yet another charismatic lead performance, and Minoru Chiaki and Kamatari Fujiwara match him just as effectively. Through his camera and directorial techniques you can see Kurasawa paying debt to John Ford's western, and you can also see with the galaxy far far away idea especially the major influence it had on Star Wars. The Hidden Fortress was said as well to be Kurasawa's own personal favourite of his work, and while not quite mine(Seven Samurai) I can definitely see why, and it is perhaps his most accessible(I have often seen Throne of Blood criticised for its dramatic structure and one-dimensional characters and I know people were deterred by the length of Seven Samurai). In conclusion though, a truly great film. 10/10 Bethany Cox
