Kagemusha (1980)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Masato Ide (writer)
Akira Kurosawa (writer)

Release Date:

6 October 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Plot:

When a powerful warlord in medieval Japan dies, a poor thief recruited to impersonate him finds difficulty...

Plot Keywords:

Japan | Warrior | Double | Substitution | Honor

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 19 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Tatsuya Nakadai	...	Shingen Takeda / Kagemusha
Tsutomu Yamazaki	...	Nobukado Takeda
Kenichi Hagiwara	...	Katsuyori Takeda
Jinpachi Nezu	...	Sohachiro Tsuchiya
Hideji Otaki	...	Masakage Yamagata
Daisuke Ryu	...	Nobunaga Oda
Masayuki Yui	...	Ieyasu Tokugawa
Kaori Momoi	...	Otsuyanokata
Mitsuko Baisho	...	Oyunokata
Hideo Murota	...	Nobufusa Baba
Takayuki Shiho	...	Masatoyo Naito
Koji Shimizu	...	Katsusuke Atobe
Noboru Shimizu	...	Masatane Hara
Sen Yamamoto	...	Nobushige Oyamada
Shuhei Sugimori	...	Masanobu Kosaka
Kota Yui	...	Takemaru
Yasuhito Yamanaka	...	Ranmaru Mori
Kumeko Otowa	...	Takemaru's Nurse
Tetsuo Yamashita	...	Nagahide Niwa
Kai Ato	...	Zenjiro Amemiya
Takashi Ebata	...	Monk
Hiroshi Shimada	...	Jingoro Hara
Yutaka Shimaka	...	Jingoro Hara
Toshiaki Tanabe	...	Kugutsushi
Yoshimitsu Yamaguchi	...	Salt Vendor
Eiichi Kanakubo	...	Kenshin Uesugi
Akihiko Sugizaki	...	Noda Castle Soldier
Yugo Miyazaki
Masatsuga Kuriyama
Norio Matsui	...	Tadatsugu Sakai
Jiro Yabuki
Yasushi Doshida	...	Kazumasa Ishikawa
Takashi Watanabe
Nobaru Sone	...	Heihachiro Honda (as Nori Sone)
Eihachi Ito
Senkichi Omura
Takashi Shimura	...	Gyobu Taguchi
Kamatari Fujiwara	...	Doctor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Francis Selleck	...	Priest (as Francis Seleck)

Directed by
Akira Kurosawa

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Masato Ide		writer
Akira Kurosawa		writer

Produced by
Audie Bock	....	assistant producer
Francis Ford Coppola	....	executive producer: international version
Akira Kurosawa	....	executive producer
Akira Kurosawa	....	producer
George Lucas	....	executive producer: international version
Tomoyuki Tanaka	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Shinichirô Ikebe

Cinematography by
Takao Saitô
Masaharu Ueda		(as Shoji Ueda)

Art Direction by
Yoshirô Muraki

Costume Design by
Seiichiro Hagakusawa

Makeup Department
Yoshiko Matsumoto	....	hair stylist
Shigeo Tamura	....	hair stylist
Junjiro Yamada	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Akira Fujita	....	unit production manager
Toshiaki Hashimoto	....	production manager
Toshiaki Hashimoto	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ishirô Honda	....	second unit director
Hideyuki Inoue	....	assistant director
Takashi Koizumi	....	assistant director
Fumiryo Okada	....	chief assistant director
Takao Okawara	....	assistant director

Art Department
Aki Saburagi	....	assistant art director
Hatsumi Yamamoto	....	property master

Sound Department
Ichirô Minami	....	sound effects editor
Mamoru Yamada	....	assistant sound recordist
Fumio Yanoguchi	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Naomi Hashiyama	....	still photographer
Satoshi Kurikihara	....	assistant lighting technician
Tamio Matsuo	....	assistant camera
Kazuo Miyagawa	....	consultant: photography
Asakazu Nakai	....	consultant: photography
Takeji Sano	....	lighting technician

Editorial Department
Yoshihiro Iwatani	....	assistant editor
Tome Minami	....	negative cutter

Music Department
Kotaro Saito	....	conductor

Transportation Department
Isamu Miwano	....	transportation

Other crew
Audie Bock	....	assistant to producer (international version)
Francis Ford Coppola	....	presenter
Masa Furugawara	....	scene shifter
Toshi Hasegawa	....	horseback riding instructor
Shinobu Hashimoto	....	production advisor
Hiroaki Honda	....	acting office
Ishirô Honda	....	directorial advisor
Ishirô Honda	....	production coordinator
Ryu Kuze	....	instructor: samurai etiquette
George Lucas	....	presenter
Teruyo Nogami	....	assistant to producer
Teruyo Nogami	....	script supervisor
Donald Richie	....	subtitle supervisor (US version)
Donald Richie	....	subtitler (international version)
Takao Saitô	....	production advisor
Tamihei Shirai	....	horseback riding instructor
Ishirô Honda	....	creative consultant (uncredited)
Michael Rich	....	assistant to director (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Kurosawa Production Co.
• Toho Company
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (in association)

Distributors

• Toho Company (1980) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1980) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Fox (1980) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Abril Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (2009) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Fox Video (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Svensk Filmindustri (SF) (2004) (Sweden) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Toho Special Effects Group

Other Companies

• Ehime Castle  
• Iga Ueno Castle  
• JAL  
• Kumamoto Castle  
• Kyoto Costumes  costumes
• Mimatsu  costumes
• New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra  orchestra
• Toho Recording Center  sound re-recording
• Toho Sound Effects Group  sound effects
• Toho Studios  sound stages
• Tokyo Concerts  orchestra

Also Known As:

Kagemusha (The Shadow Warrior)
Kagemusha the Shadow Warrior
Shadow Warrior
The Double

Runtime:

180 min | Argentina:162 min | USA:162 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:12 | South Korea:12 (1998) | Portugal:M/12 | Australia:PG | Sweden:15 | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Gotemba, Shizuoka, Japan

Company:

Kurosawa Production Co.

Trivia:

Shintarô Katsu was originally slated to play the lead role but he was dismissed by Kurasawa after Katsu came to a rehearsal with a video camera and said he wanted to document the experience for an acting class he was teaching.

Quotes:

Nobukado Takeda: I know it is difficult. I was for a long time the lord's double. It was torture. It is not easy to suppress yourself to become another. Often I wanted to be myself and free. But now I think this was selfish of me. The shadow of a man can never desert that man. I was my brother's shadow. Now that I have lost him, it is as though I am nothing.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Seven Samurai: Origins and Influences (2006) (V)

A Great Mature Kurosawa Film

I am a fan of Kurosawa and have seen many of his films many times. There is a sweep and an ache to Kagemusha that is genuine and has remained in my heart's memory. Unlike Ran, it is not Shakespearean. Unlike Seven Samurai, my favorite all-time film and I believe the best film ever made, it is not a western.

Although epic, it is about a sweet and rueful soul swallowed by karma and history. It is redemptive without overt sentiment, and the lead performance by Tatsuya Nakadai is nuanced and unforgettable.

I will always remember this film, not for its complexity or savagery, but for the simplest moments between Lord and subject, between the highest self and the lowest self, and most particularly, the very real pain of a man caught in the vise of his own life and death.