My favorite movie. A good mix of comedy. action and adventure. I've watched it more than 100 times. A couple things - 1) Although the general tells the two peasants his name and the peasants recognize the name as that of a famous general, the peasants do not believe him and do not find out he really is who he said until the courtyard scene at the end of the movie when all is revealed. Until then they believe him to be just a bully. 2) The peasant girl bought from the slave trader is not a prostitute. Wikipedia also falsely labels her as a prostitute. Quite the opposite. She refuses to take John's. That's why the slave trader is eager to sell her. She was recently captured from the princesses land. That's why they bought her. To free one of their own. She is billed as a farmers daughter. Thanks for reviewing. I like hearing other people's take on this movie.
Oh awesome, it's a great movie! Thanks for letting me know - I often feel like I'm missing things like this in translation so it helps knowing what's going on for real. Cheers!
Great analysis of a wonderful movie! The message feels very spiritual, very Buddhist. I also loved your point about Kurosawa's shot compositions and editing compared to modern movies. I've seen people claim older movies are "stagey" because they just let scenes play out that way, but I find these claims ridiculous. The lack of constant whiz-bang editing is why i tend to gravitate more towards classic cinema and Kurosawa's masterful command of his craft is a great lesson in how absorbing such cinema could be.
Absolutely, it's a great message! I completely agree, so many older films are astonishingly cinematic. And there are plenty of "stagey" modern films, with flat lighting and front-on framing. Movies like Hidden Fortress though - they call them classics for a reason.
It always amuses me that critics call Hidden Fortress "Light Entertainment" It's a pretty deep story, and a cinematic masterpiece! One thing you missed is a Japanese song sung in three styles: 1 the fire festival, 2 the Generals attack 3 the princess sings the song from memory... Its a great introduction to Japanese music, which is pretty alien to most of us... IMHO
There's a lot to enjoy for sure! Awesome, thanks for letting us know. I found the fire festival music really entrancing. One of the film's many charms!
I really enjoyed your interpretation of the meaning of this film. But I think you could have pointed out how the two peasant protagonist Tahei and Matashichi showed the Toshiro Mifune character Rokurōta a plausible escape route. Rokurōta showed great pleasure in the irony that these illiterate peasants figured out an escape route that he, a great general, had not considered. This reinforces your thesis that humanity is equally valuable regardless of rank or life station.
Good analysis a few things,The "prostitute" was not one that was the whole point she would not do it, she was a refugee caught up in the war. Im shocked you had any criticism for this masterpiece of cinema.
It's more prevalent in the early drafts which were about a general trying to escort a princess to a safe location following the invasion of her planet. That basic idea is dropped from the first film but revived for the sequel which is about a hero (who will later become a general) escorting a princess to a safe location following the invasion of her planet.
