• Kakushi-toride no san-akunin / The Hidden Fortress (1958) - An epic journey - 8/10 (24/10/18)

    Kakushi-toride no san-akunin / The Hidden Fortress (1958)

    The Hidden Fortress is an entertaining adventure film and rightfully regarded as one of Kurosawa Akira's greatest and most influential movies. The story follows two naive peasants who try to find gold during a war between the victorious Yamada clan and the defeated Akizuki clan. Instead of getting rich and famous, they end up getting caught on multiple occasions and are forced to do degrading labours. Their luck finally seems to turn when they find a piece of gold in a wooden stick in an isolated valley. This piece of gold belongs to the defeated Akizuki clan and their surviving general initially plans to kill the foolish peasants. When he learns of their plan to go back to their home province by passing by a third province in order to avoid the heavily guarded border, the general finds this idea so brilliant that he decides to test the peasants. He leads them into the clan's hidden fortress, promises them more gold and asks them to help him bring the riches to their home province which is allied with the Akizuki clan. What the general doesn't tell them is that the mute girl who travels with them is actually the princess of the Akizuki clan who needs to be brought to safety. The quartet's identity is soon compromised on their epic journey and the four characters need to fight for their own survival, the gold and the fate of the Akizuki clan.

    By Kurosawa's standards, The Hidden Fortress is a surprisingly fast-paced film. In the first half hour alone, we witness how the two peasants get separated during an argument, end up being caught by the Yamada clan, have to do hard physical labour, get mixed up in an uprising of prisoners of war, flee to a secluded valley, find some gold and meet the mysterious general. There are more things happening in the first quarter of this movie than in entire other films of the same genre. The Hidden Fortress is particularly entertaining from start to finish.

    The characters are also particularly vivid. The story is told by the two stupid, naive and dishonest peasants which adds an entertaining, humorous and light-hearted touch to the film. The mysterious general is brilliantly played by Mifune Toshiro who seemed to get better with each film he made with Kurosawa. Uehara Misa convinces in her first role as independent princess and incarnates a physically and mentally strong woman who avoids any stereotypes.

    The landscapes also add a lot to this epic movie. The quartet travels through rocky mountains, heavily guarded borders and ancestral villages. They sleep in crowded inns and wet caves. They fight enemy soldiers and join local peasants for a fire festival. The movie tells us a lot about Japanese culture and traditions.

    There are only two minor reasons why the film didn't get the perfect grade. First of all, the story is rather simplistic and could have been a little bit more surprising. Secondly, the cinematography is equally simple. It's not the director who stands out here but the brilliant actresses and actors.

    If you like adventure and action movies and are interested in Japanese culture, you should definitely watch The Hidden Fortress. The film has aged rather well and is still entertaining nowadays. The journey portrayed in this movie is so epic that it requests multiple viewings.

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