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Japan, United States · 1980
Rated PG · 3h 0m
Director Akira Kurosawa
Starring Tatsuya Nakadai, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Jinpachi Nezu, Takashi Shimura
Genre Action, Drama, History, War
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Kurosawa's feudal epic presents the tale of a petty thief recruited to impersonate Shingen, an aging warlord, to avoid attacks by competing clans. When Shingen dies, his generals reluctantly agree to have the impostor take over as the ruler. He soon begins to appreciate life as Shingen, but his commitment is tested when he must lead his troops into battle.
For all Kurosawa's splendidly colourful recreation of 16th century Japan, and though Nakadai's performance is impressive enough, it's all ultimately rather empty and tedious; it could easily have been cut by almost an hour, while the grating Morricone-like score only serves to underline the fact that the director fails to achieve the emotional force of his finest work.
Something large and abstract is stirring here, though the film's ultimate implications are chilling
Slant Magazine by Eric Henderson
The film vibrates with a profound respect for historical veracity, the busy intersection between political sociology and psychology, and grunting, portentous masculinity.
An often overlooked fine entry in the Kurasawa canon, this shows a good many western 'epics' how it's done.
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
Simple, bold, and colorful on the surface, but very thoughtful.
Though the story's Shakespearean underpinnings give Kagemusha the weight of classic tragedy–in this case, the tragedy of a man rendered helpless by larger historical forces–the film astonishes mostly as pure spectacle.
The New York Times by Vincent Canby
There is beauty in Kagemusha but it is impersonal, distant and ghostly. The old master has never been more rigorous. [06 Oct 1980, p.14]
Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan ranks among his most acclaimed films.
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In 1999 all the human beings will be dead. We have only 25 years of great fear remaining. This motion picture is the incredible fruit of the most advanced scientific mind and limitless imagination.