The Hidden Fortress (1958)
Directed by Akira Kurosawa

Film Review

The Hidden Fortress may not be the most highly regarded of Akira Kurosawa's great Samurai films but it is easily one of the most accessible and entertaining.  The plot is childishly simple and the contemporary social themes that invade much of Kurosawa's work are subtle to the point of being invisible to a non-Japanese spectator.  The last film that the director made for Toho Studio before he set up his own film production company, it is nothing less than a full-blown crowd-pleaser, a swashbuckling adventure that boasts some stunning action sequences and an unexpected strong vein of comedy.  Anyone who feels intimidated by the prospect of watching Kurosawa's more highly acclaimed masterpieces should watch The Hidden Fortress first - there is probably no better introduction to his work, particularly for those unfamiliar with Japanese cinema.  This was to be Kurosawa's most commercially successful film and it won him the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1959.

The appeal of The Hidden Fortress to a western audience is not hard to see.  That Kurosawa was influenced by American filmmakers - in particular John Ford - is evident in practically every shot.  Kurosawa's inspired use of landscape, the near-perfect framing of his shots and the immaculate way in which his action sequences are cut together show the extent to which Ford's cinema shaped his own view of film art, which was radically different to Japanese cinema at the time (as can readily be seen by comparing Kurosawa's films with those of his esteemed contemporary, Kenji Mizoguchi).  The Hidden Fortress contains some of Kurosawa's most spectacular work, the highpoint being a breakneck horse chase across country which culminates in a tense, visually arresting spear duel.  The slopes of Mount Fuji provided a suitably impressive backdrop for much of the film, the beauty of the natural locations amplified by Kurosawa's confident use of the widescreen (Tohoscope) process, which adds much to the dramatic power and visual grandeur of the film.

In common with much of Kurosawa's work, The Hidden Fortress was to prove highly influential on other filmmakers, most notably a young American film student named George Lucas, who would incorporate many of its plot elements into the film that would make him famous, Star Wars (1977).  The most obvious influence is the way in which Kurosawa constructs his narrative around two seemingly minor characters, Tahei and Matashichi, who form a kind of Laurel and Hardy double act, constantly bickering and getting themselves into trouble.  The more important characters in the story are less well-developed and frequently disappear into the background, so that our sympathies are virtually monopolised by the two cowardly peasants.  Lucas freely admits that he 'borrowed' this idea for Star Wars, telling his story from the point-of-view of two apparently insignificant characters, the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO.  Like Star Wars, The Hidden Fortress is a classic adventure tale for young and old, in which the villains and the heroes are well-delineated, which erupts from the screen with its action set-pieces and which carries the spectator along with it at an unstoppable pace, offering laughs and thrills aplenty.

Film Synopsis

In war-torn feudal Japan, two peasants, Tahei and Matashichi, attempt to escape across the border from their own country, but are captured by enemy soldiers and forced into slavery.   Reunited in the course of a slave rebellion, the two men take flight and arrive at a river, where they discover gold ornaments bearing the crest of the royal house of Akizuki, concealed in sticks of firewood.  As they look for more hidden treasure, the two men are disturbed by an imposing Samurai general, Rokurota Makabe, who coerces them into joining him in his mission - to escort the Princess Yuki (who has been hiding out in a hidden fortress with her family) to the safety of a neighbouring country.  To hide her identity, the princess poses as a mute, but the party's progress is impeded by the need to transport the vast haul of gold that will be needed to establish Yuki as ruler once she is safe from her enemies.  Neither the general nor the princess can count on the loyalty of Tahei and Matashichi, who will use every opportunity they can to run off with the gold and betray their employers...