I first saw this movie when I was a child and it took me decades to understand it even after watching it dozens of times. The deconstruction theory is a good one, but it's really not about that. It's difficult to interpret from a Western perspective because in contrast to our very individualistic interpretation to the world, it's about the importance of belonging. The Thief is an outsider, he has no family or friends, he doesn't even belong to any status in the manorial hierarchy. By happenstance he looks like the daimyo Takeda Shingen and as he takes his role as the double he shows that he mirrors him in many aspects of his spirit. When it's discovered by outsiders that he's a double and he's cast out again, his spirit and loyalty are still linked to the Takeda whether they accept him or not. So when the Takeda are destroyed at Nagashino, the thief, now the Double, takes it upon himself to die with them because he can no longer go on as a man without any loyalties. Through being the shadow of one man, the thief can longer live as the shadow of a man he was before.
I always regarded Kagemusha as Kurosawa's masterpiece, but I don't think it is about how the people elevate somebody to be the great leader as long as they believe in him. Kurosawa had come to prominence for Western audiences with his adaptations the Shakespearean tragedies of Macbeth (Throne of Blood) and later King Lear (Ran.) Western tragedy is about the catharsis the audience experiences faced with the destruction of a great man because of his tragic flaw, the death of whom relieves the afflicted society. In Kagemusha Kurosawa is proposing a more Japanese concept of tragedy. What you find "touching" is just this tragic catharsis, but the shadow warrior is not the great man. Shingen is the great man whose desire to unite Japan is not the selfish goal it at first seems, but a noble purpose to which Shingen is so dedicated that his spirit continues to strive for it even in death. The scenes where the thief/shadow warrior appears so inspired in his impersonation, achieving several brilliant coups de cinema, imply Shingen's spiritual possession of the person of the thief. But even such superhuman effort to impel the clan to fullfil Shingen's mission is not enough in the end to overcome the petty desires of clan members, resulting in the destruction of the entire clan, an event to which the thief, although by now having forgotten his own identity, is a mere bystander . The reveal of the film is that the story was never about the impostor at all, very much contrary to our Western storytelling expectations. The great stories in the Japanese historical imagination concern the destruction of an entire clan, such as the tale of the Heike. The artistic representation of the animation of spiritual possession is a basic feature of Japanese performance arts such as puppetry and lion dances. It's true that Kagemusha at about $7 million was not especially expensive by Hollywood standards, but it was the most expensive movie made in Japan up until that time. Kagemusha is more original, more Japanese, and more affecting than even Kurosawa's other masterpieces. I was disappointed that you chose to dub a horse racing trumpet over the scene where the shadow warrior is suddenly imbued with Shingen's spirit while passing in mounted review of infantry. You seemed to belittle the scene, perhaps because of your misconception of the point of the movie. The thief is an impostor, but in the end he is not a fraud.
It's also somewhat unique in that there are two "director's cuts," one a bit shorter (the international version) and one longer (the Japanese market version), both of which were considered legitemate versions by Kurosawa. I personally prefer the longer cut as I find it more balanced. There are are also a handful achingly beautiful images exclusive to that cut that alone justify its existence, but there are a few brief transition shots only in the shorter version.
KAGEMUSHA is a great rehearsal for RAN, but I think and inferior film. The music is weak (a weird hybrid of pseudo-John Williams and pseudo John Barry), and there's a lack of definition to the characters (BTW, Kurosawa was fired off Tora Tora Tora -- according the Richard Fleisher -- because the cast he hired were potential backers of his next project). I believe it was the most expensive Japanese film to date. It's success got him RAN. But it is still Kurosawa, it still worth repeated viewing. Just MHO, too.
May want to correct your interpretations... 時代 is not pronounced "Jedai", it's 時代 pronounced Jidai. (Jidai=period/era i.e Edo-jidai means Edo era, sengoku-jidai=warring states period). 時代劇 means historical drama...
I first saw this movie when I was a child and it took me decades to understand it even after watching it dozens of times. The deconstruction theory is a good one, but it's really not about that. It's difficult to interpret from a Western perspective because in contrast to our very individualistic interpretation to the world, it's about the importance of belonging. The Thief is an outsider, he has no family or friends, he doesn't even belong to any status in the manorial hierarchy. By happenstance he looks like the daimyo Takeda Shingen and as he takes his role as the double he shows that he mirrors him in many aspects of his spirit. When it's discovered by outsiders that he's a double and he's cast out again, his spirit and loyalty are still linked to the Takeda whether they accept him or not. So when the Takeda are destroyed at Nagashino, the thief, now the Double, takes it upon himself to die with them because he can no longer go on as a man without any loyalties. Through being the shadow of one man, the thief can longer live as the shadow of a man he was before.
Bernard Rose just made a samurai movie. I can't wait to see it.
Akira Kurosawa is the greatest film-maker of all time.
I always regarded Kagemusha as Kurosawa's masterpiece, but I don't think it is about how the people elevate somebody to be the great leader as long as they believe in him. Kurosawa had come to prominence for Western audiences with his adaptations the Shakespearean tragedies of Macbeth (Throne of Blood) and later King Lear (Ran.) Western tragedy is about the catharsis the audience experiences faced with the destruction of a great man because of his tragic flaw, the death of whom relieves the afflicted society. In Kagemusha Kurosawa is proposing a more Japanese concept of tragedy. What you find "touching" is just this tragic catharsis, but the shadow warrior is not the great man. Shingen is the great man whose desire to unite Japan is not the selfish goal it at first seems, but a noble purpose to which Shingen is so dedicated that his spirit continues to strive for it even in death. The scenes where the thief/shadow warrior appears so inspired in his impersonation, achieving several brilliant coups de cinema, imply Shingen's spiritual possession of the person of the thief. But even such superhuman effort to impel the clan to fullfil Shingen's mission is not enough in the end to overcome the petty desires of clan members, resulting in the destruction of the entire clan, an event to which the thief, although by now having forgotten his own identity, is a mere bystander . The reveal of the film is that the story was never about the impostor at all, very much contrary to our Western storytelling expectations. The great stories in the Japanese historical imagination concern the destruction of an entire clan, such as the tale of the Heike. The artistic representation of the animation of spiritual possession is a basic feature of Japanese performance arts such as puppetry and lion dances.
It's true that Kagemusha at about $7 million was not especially expensive by Hollywood standards, but it was the most expensive movie made in Japan up until that time. Kagemusha is more original, more Japanese, and more affecting than even Kurosawa's other masterpieces.
I was disappointed that you chose to dub a horse racing trumpet over the scene where the shadow warrior is suddenly imbued with Shingen's spirit while passing in mounted review of infantry. You seemed to belittle the scene, perhaps because of your misconception of the point of the movie. The thief is an impostor, but in the end he is not a fraud.
Excelent video!!
Produced by Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas, Kagemusha is a great Kurosawa with Ran being his final masterpiece.
It's also somewhat unique in that there are two "director's cuts," one a bit shorter (the international version) and one longer (the Japanese market version), both of which were considered legitemate versions by Kurosawa. I personally prefer the longer cut as I find it more balanced. There are are also a handful achingly beautiful images exclusive to that cut that alone justify its existence, but there are a few brief transition shots only in the shorter version.
Wow. Very interesting. Now I must se this movie
Sound's awesome
To me.
Awesome👻
Its not jedaigeki--its jidaigeki.
Kagemusha is about impostor syndrome
KAGEMUSHA is a great rehearsal for RAN, but I think and inferior film. The music is weak (a weird hybrid of pseudo-John Williams and pseudo John Barry), and there's a lack of definition to the characters (BTW, Kurosawa was fired off Tora Tora Tora -- according the Richard Fleisher -- because the cast he hired were potential backers of his next project). I believe it was the most expensive Japanese film to date. It's success got him RAN. But it is still Kurosawa, it still worth repeated viewing. Just MHO, too.
May want to correct your interpretations... 時代 is not pronounced "Jedai", it's 時代 pronounced Jidai. (Jidai=period/era i.e Edo-jidai means Edo era, sengoku-jidai=warring states period).
時代劇 means historical drama...