Kakushi-toride no san-akunin (1958)

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Shinobu Hashimoto (writer)
Ryûzô Kikushima (writer)

Release Date:

6 October 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy

Plot:

Lured by gold, two greedy peasants escort a man and woman across enemy lines. However, they do not realize that their companions are actually a princess and her general.

Plot Keywords:

Gold | Princess | Katana Sword | Jidai Geki | Samurai Warrior

Awards:

4 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Toshirô Mifune	...	General Rokurota Makabe
Misa Uehara	...	Princess Yuki
Minoru Chiaki	...	Tahei
Kamatari Fujiwara	...	Matakishi
Takashi Shimura	...	The Old General, Izumi Nagakura
Susumu Fujita	...	General Hyoe Tadokoro
Eiko Miyoshi	...	Old Lady-in-Waiting
Toshiko Higuchi	...	Farmer's Daughter bought from slave trader
Koji Mitsui	...	Guard
Shiten Ohashi	...	Samurai
Kichijiro Ueda	...	Slave Trader
Ikio Sawamura	...	Gambler
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Takuzo Kumagaya	...	Yamana foot soldier (as Jirô Kumagai)
Tadao Nakamaru	...	Young Man
Rinsaku Ogata	...	Second Young Man

Also Known As:

The Hidden Fortress (USA)
The Three Villains of the Hidden Fortress (informal English title)
Three Bad Men in a Hidden Fortress (International: English title) (literal title)
Three Rascals in the Hidden Fortress (International: English title)

Runtime:

139 min | USA:126 min | Finland:114 min (1959)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Perspecta Stereo (optical prints) | Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-11 (re-rating) | Finland:K-16 (original rating) | Spain:13 | UK:PG (video rating) (1994) | UK:A (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Mount Fuji, Shizuoka, Japan

Company:

Toho Company

Trivia:

Akira Kurosawa made this commercial and accessible film as a way to repay Toho Studios for allowing him to make riskier, more artistic fare such as Rashômon (1950). It was later one of the greatest inspirations for George Lucas' first Star Wars (1977) film.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Tahei: Get away from me! You stink of dead bodies!

Movie Connections:

References Bronenosets Potyomkin (1925)

Another epic journey from the master director

Legendary director Akira Kurosawa has made a lot of great films, many of which have gone on to inspire whole areas of cinema. While Hidden Fortress doesn't represent his best, most influential or most important work; it's definitely an important movie in film history in it's own right, and besides that, it's a damn good movie to boot. I was most surprised at the amount of comic relief present in the movie. When watching a Kurosawa film, I always expect it to be a serious affair; so the comedy in this movie made for a surprise, which was, on the whole, a good surprise as like most things in Kurosawa's films; it works. The film has become most famous recently for the many parallels that it has with the masterpiece 'Star Wars', and it has become well documented that this film was a major influence on said movie, which is shown most clearly by the fact that a lot of the story is shown through the eyes of two bumbling people that aren't all that relevant to the central plot, and the style of editing; which George Lucas adopted many times in his epic trilogy.

The plot follows a princess who must be escorted across enemy lines by her general. Two greedy peasants join the escort on the promise of a reward of gold. Like Star Wars, the plot here is relatively simple; and it's the way that the story is portrayed, not the story itself, that makes this movie great. Despite it's simplicity, Kurosawa gives it the style of an epic; and it really feels like one. Kurosawa regular, Toshirô Mifune heads a great ensemble cast; all of which do well in their roles. Kurosawa had a great talent for pulling great performances out of everyone in his films, and he shows that talent excellently here. The cinematography is excellent, and the master director has managed to capture some truly stunning landscapes, which serve in adding beauty to the picture. This film is, of course, in black and white; and that is Kurosawa at his best in my opinion. While I loved 'Ran' and it's vibrant colours, black and white allows Kurosawa to blend atmosphere into his films, and they're always the better for it. On the whole, Kurosawa is a genius - and this is one of his best films.