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Shingen, a powerful warlord lies dying from his battle
wounds, Shingen orders his clan to find a double to replace
him - to keep his death secret so that his enemies will not
attack. The man chosen for this role is called Kagemusha (The
Shadow Warrior). However, Kagemusha turns out to be a petty
criminal who must somehow transform himself into a great leader
and command the allegiance of 25 000 Samurai warriors...
Kagemusha
is a sprawling epic, a masterpiece of structure and character
and, quite rightly, a winner of the 1980 Cannes Film Festival
Golden Palm. While not quite as good as director Kurosawa's
Seven Samurai or Ran, this film still ranks
highly in his list of works, although its stagy opening sequence
and stylised acting may not be to the liking of mainstream
western audiences.
The
film takes place in 16th Century Japan where a powerful warlord
is deciding if a convicted criminal can be used as his double
to protect against assassination attempts. Political intrigue
and honour play central to the movie but the pivotal action
surrounds the thief's decision - should he act as double,
thereby escaping immediate death, or take up the public appearance
of the warlord and risk his life to save the man in whose
name he was to have been killed?
Kurosawa's
work was initially inspired by Hollywood but such were his
achievements that he returned the favour, giving the inspiration
back to US directors such as Steven Spielberg.
Kagemusha
is a very good work by a very great man.
Anthony
Clark
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