A long time ago, in a Japan far, far away...

Akira Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress" has been re-examined and reappraised by film critics, scholars and historians over the past several years and is now determined to be a classic among Kurosawa's canon. That's a big step up from the dismissals the film received from plenty of reviewers and serious cinephiles back when it was released--many of whom categorized this outing as escapist entertainment of a lesser sort from the filmmaker, from whom they'd come to expect such masterpieces as "Rashomon," "Ikiru," and "The Seven Samurai." Viewing it fresh in 2019, we had a near consensus among our CineVerse members last night: this is a great work worthy of appreciation. Among the discussed reasons why are the following:

THIS MOVIE HAS BEEN CITED AS AN INFLUENCE ON GEORGE LUCAS’ FIRST STAR WARS FILM FROM 1977. CAN YOU CITE ANY EXAMPLES?

• The story involves a ragtag band of heroes, rogues and comic relief underlings who try to protect and rescue a princess from evil forces.
• General Rokurota is like Luke Skywalker/Ben Kenobi, and Tahei and Mataschichi are like Han Solo/Chewbacca (in their greediness) as well as R2D2/C3PO.
• Keith Phipps of The Dissolve wrote: “Like The Hidden Fortress, Star Wars begins as a story told from the point of view its universe’s lowliest characters, who double as guides for what might otherwise be a confusing world.”
• There are epic swordplay, spear, and bow and arrow battles, just as Star Wars has lightsaber and laser gun battles.
• Both films use wipes as transitions between scenes.

HOW WAS THIS A NOTABLE AND DIFFERENT KIND OF MOVIE FOR AKIRA KUROSAWA?

• It was his first film shot in widescreen, using TohoScope, comparable to Hollywood’s CinemaScope; consider that widescreen epics were in high demand among westerners in the 1950s.
• It’s been called one of Kurosawa’s most stylized films, due to its meticulously framed compositions, memorable cinematic action, abundance of fast pans, eccentric angles, use of montage, and other visual traits.
• According to Criterion Collection essayist Armond White, “Kurosawa offers a kinetic surprise in the way much of the action moves from the back of the image to the foreground, or from the top of the frame to the bottom. No other filmmaker since early D. W. Griffith or Fritz Lang in the ’20s has used the screen so dynamically. This new (TohoScope) format put special emphasis on the long exterior shot as adventure fans know, but what is less commonly recognized is the dynamism it afforded the close-up. Kurosawa’s use of a telephoto lens gave close imagery unusual density, as when Rokurota and Princess Yuki cast their gaze on the Hayakawa plains. Quick editing of fast-moving action across the vast frame—as when Rokurota fights four soldiers, charging through the landscape back to their headquarters—makes for unusually dazzling cinema.”
• The compositions are particularly creative, especially now that Kurosawa had the widescreen format to play with. Bluray.com reviewer Dr. Svet Atanasov wrote: “Another interesting aspect of the film's visual style is the optimization of the available image space. To be perfectly clear, the positioning of the different characters inside the image frame is consistently very precise. There are many examples throughout the film where the camera appears to be following one character but actually observes closely two, three or even a whole group of characters as they interact with each other (see the long duel sequence). Additionally, there are sequences where the movement of different characters which the audience cannot immediately see is anticipated. For example, in the very beginning of the film for a short period of time only Tahei and Matakishi can see the fleeing samurai. In this sequence all of the important movement begins behind the camera and yet Kurosawa still places the audience right in the middle of the action.”
• It’s arguably Kurosawa’s funniest picture; this director was not known for broad comedy in his films—he was known more for his rousing period films and action epics as well as morality tales.
• It introduced a kind of female character that was rare for Japanese cinema at the time: Yuki isn’t a helpless, demure love interest or a femme fatale who leads men into danger; instead, she is “stripped of sexuality” and “arguably symptomatic of the changing gender roles of postwar Japan. Women’s liberation was received with deep ambivalence after the American occupation, as it reeked of Western values. In The Hidden Fortress, we see a new woman of the 1950s, echoing the great western roles of Joan Crawford and Barbara Stanwyck, but even more powerful than they, and far more independent, if somewhat less seductive,” wrote Criterion Collection essayist Catherine Russell.

THEMES EXAMINED IN THE HIDDEN FORTRESS:

• Appearances can be deceiving: each of the major characters defies audience expectations in some way.
• We are pawns in the game of life and vulnerable to our “own animal instincts”, White wrote.
• A heroic quest can bring out the best in and change those involved: consider how, by the end of the story, the princess becomes aware of the problems of the lower class and the peasants and two bandits become aware that their avarice was “a misguided attempt to upset the social order,” Russell wrote.

OTHER FILMS AND WORKS OF LITERATURE THIS MOVIE CONJURES UP:

• Star Wars: A New Hope
• Classic westerns including Stagecoach, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and The Wild Bunch
• Princess Mononoke by Hayao Miyazaki
• The Prince and the Pauper

OTHER MASTERWORKS BY AKIRA KUROSAWA:

• Rashomon
• Ikiru
• The Seven Samurai
• Throne of Blood
• Yojimbo
• High and Low
• Red Beard
• Ran