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DVD Kagemusha - Criterion Collection
The 1970s were difficult years for the great Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. Following the box-office failure of his 1970 film Dodes'ka-den and an unsuccessful suicide attempt, Kurosawa was unable to find financial backing in Japan, and he made his acclaimed 1975 film Dersu Uzala in Siberia with Russian financing. With only partial Japanese backing for his epic project Kagemusha, the 70-year-old master then found American support from George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola, who served as coexecutive producers (through 20th Century Fox) for this magnificent 1980 production--to that date the most expensive film in Japanese history. Set in the late 16th century, Kagemusha centers on the Takeda clan, one of three warlord clans battling for control of Japan at the end of the feudal period. When Lord Shingen (Tatsuya Nakadai), head of the Takeda clan, is mortally wounded in battle and near death, he orders that his death be kept secret and that his "kagemusha"--or "shadow warrior"--take his place for a period of three years to prevent clan disruption and enemy takeover. The identical double is a petty thief (also played by Nakadai) spared from execution due to his uncanny resemblance to Lord Shingen--but his true identity cannot prevent the tides of fate from rising over the Takeda clan in a climactic scene of battlefield devastation. Through stunning visuals and meticulous attention to every physical and stylistic detail, Kurosawa made a film that restored his status as Japan's greatest filmmaker, and the success of Kagemusha enabled the director to make his 1985 masterpiece, Ran. --Jeff Shannon
If you love Kurosawa's movies because of great characters and story line, this movie may disappoint you. There are lots of characters but the story is difficult to follow. Shintaro Katsu (the classic Zatoichi actor) was originally cast in the main role but due to arguements with Kurosawa he was replaced by Tatsuya Nakadai. This is good because while Katsu was fabulous as Zatoichi, you just can't picture him playing a feudal lord. Nakadai is convincing. As we was later in Ran. The costumes are gorgeous and the scenery wonderful, but the story is not as crisp as Seven Samurai or as compelling as Ikiru. But I still enjoyed the movie for all the other Kurosawa features, high winds, heavy rain, panoramic shots, great close-ups and costumes. Nakadai is also wonderful in Sword of Doom, Yojimbo, Ran and Kill!. Hara Kiri was too gruesome though his acting was good. Also, the Criterion Collection versions are wonderfully done in DVD format. I always look for their version if available. Now can we get Drunken Angel on DVD please?
Far interesting than most of the nowaday's crap movies
Just amazing. This is not for someone who looks for actions/fighting. This is for someone who has an interest in Japanese culture and views storyline & character development as most important elements in the movie.
A Shadow Cannot Exist Without the Man
Kurosawa's beautiful film Kagemusha is a meditation on subjects that have haunted the director throughout his career in cinema: the doppelgager or double, (which brings to question identity and how identity is formed, and where identity is located; is it in appearance, world views, actions, attitudes or loves? How does individual choice create a man? What if one's choices were different?) transformation (all Kurosawa heroes go through a transformation) the tragedy of war (note the elegaic images of horses struggling in death throes in the aftermath of the massacre at the film's conlcusion) and despair (Kuroswa has investigated despair as few other filmmakers have...from The Lower Depths and Stray Dog to Ran, many of his films meditate deeply on human hearts without hope).
I cannot help but think that Kagemusha's deep feeling comes from the autobiographical: a man (the thief, played by Tatsuya Nakadai) must assume the role of the Lord (or, why not...they say it in the film..."Tenno"...or Emperor...used to describe Kurosaw himself).
Kuroaswa must have wondered, in his time of financial difficulty, after the dismissal of "Dodes-Kaden", after his suicide attempt, after losing his status, during his struggles to find financing for Kagemusha...he must have thought about what it is to assume a role of great authority, and to be dismissed from the role that gave his life meaning.
Tatsuya Nakadai being ejected forcibly from the castle...retainers throwing clods of mud and stones after him, like a stray dog being pelted and driven from the gates of a house...maybe Kurosawa felt that this is how his life had been. He has said, "I am afraid that me minus movies equals nothing". His identity, so involved in the creation of film, in making his meditations and dreams communicated through the medium of film, and the life that grew up around the creation...the friendships, the experiences, the world of making that makes a world...it must have been horrible for him to realize how fragile and easily shattered that world could be!
Federico Fellini once said in an interview that criticism felt somehow impertinent...that his work was a reflection of who he was as a human being, and to judge one's work seemed an insult. I remember this as I think about Kagemusha and the other films of Akira Kurosawa. It is with great humility that I approach my thinking about these films, and would refuse, even if forced, to rank them. That really would be impertinent, and an insult to a life dedicated to the highest good an artist can achieve: an honest look at human experience with the intent of understanding the mysteries of the human heart.
It's a good film and everything, but would i ever watch this again? After many positive reviews, i decided to buy this and add it to my samurai film collection(which includes Seven Samurai, Sanjuro, Yojimbo, Ran, Kagemusha, Shogun's Samurai, Shogun Assassin, Sword of Doom, Shogun's Ninja, a Sword of Vengeance and Zatoichi film or two, etc). I liked the movie, was caught up in the story and characters enough, and the ending had a good pay-off with an extended fight that was well done(great to see so many characters involved in such a desperate battle to accomplish their mission).
But here's the problem, that was the ONLY major fight/action sequence in the entire (lengthy)film. Plus, once you get the 'twist' in the story line(which is pretty easy to figure out), and you... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Kihachi Okamoto DVD Release Date: Released the 08 February 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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No one uses color like Chinese director Zhang Yimou--movies like Raise the Red Lantern or Hero, though different in tone and subject matter, are drenched in rich, luscious shades of red, blue, yellow, and green. House of Flying Daggers is no exception; if they weren't choreographed with such vigorous imagination, the spectacular action sequences would seem little more than an excuse for vivid hues rippling across the screen. Government officers Leo and Jin (Asian superstars Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro) set out to destroy an underground rebellion called the House of Flying Daggers (named for their weapon of choice, a curved blade that swoops through the air like a boomerang). Their only chance to find the rebels is a blind women named Mei (Ziyi Zhang, Crouching... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Yimou Zhang DVD Release Date: Released the 19 April 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Brutal and breathtaking, Sin City is Robert Rodriguez's stunningly realized vision of Frank Miller's pulpy comic books. In the first of three separate but loosely related stories, Marv (Mickey Rourke in heavy makeup) tries to track down the killers of a woman who ended up dead in his bed. In the second story, Dwight's (Clive Owen) attempt to defend a woman from a brutal abuser goes horribly wrong, and threatens to destroy the uneasy truce among the police, the mob, and the women of Old Town. Finally, an aging cop on his last day on the job (Bruce Willis) rescues a young girl from a kidnapper, but is himself thrown in jail. Years later, he has a chance to save her again.
More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 16 August 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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This silky smooth film noir pits gruff police detective Dana Andrews, stiff and blunt in his street-bred manners, against a cultured columnist and acidic wit (Clifton Webb at his prissiest) in a battle of wits during a murder investigation. The cop is a romantic hiding under a hard-boiled exterior who falls in love with the beautiful victim through the portrait that hangs in her apartment. Gene Tierney, whose heart-shaped face mixes the exotic with the girl next door, brings the poise and calm of a model to her role as the object of every man's gaze and the target of a killer. Laura, handsomely shot in dreamy black and white, is the first and best of Otto Preminger's cool, controlled murder mysteries. In the gritty world of film noir it remains the most refined and elegant example... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Gene Tierney - Dana Andrews Director(s): Rouben Mamoulian - Otto Preminger DVD Release Date: Released the 15 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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In The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, director Wes Anderson takes his familiar stable of actors on a field trip to a fantasy aquarium, complete with stop-motion, candy-striped crabs and rainbow seahorses. And though Anderson does expand his horizons in terms of retro-special effects and a whimsical use of color, fans will otherwise find themselves in well-charted waters. As The Life Aquatic opens, Zissou (Bill Murray), a self-involved, Jacques Cousteau-like filmmaker, has just released a documentary depicting the death of his best friend Esteban, who was eaten by some sort of sea creature--possibly a jaguar shark. Zissou’s troubles also include his waning popularity with the public, and a nemesis (Jeff Goldblum) who hogs up all the grant money. Hope arrives in the... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Wes Anderson DVD Release Date: Released the 10 May 2005 Usually ships in 6 to 11 days
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