The Hidden Fortress (1958) Review

 

The Hidden Fortress (1958)

So, I had considered branching out from the samurai movies, but this is the movie that inspired George Lucas to make Star Wars, so I kinda had to see it.

The Hidden Fortress is about Matashichi and Tahei, two peasants, who run into General Rokurota and Princess Yuki, who need their help (or the other way around) in order to get to Hayakawa and secure her throne.

This is another Akira Kurosawa classic, once again using a simple story that is hilarious in its own right, but is also bolstered by engaging characters. Rokurota, a seasoned general, always trying to keep the group safe, with our two misfits always finding some way to screw everything up for themselves or the rest of the group, but in a way that is comical and keeps the story moving along at a steady pace, with this one being a whole hour shorter than Seven Samurai. The imagery and editing is phenomenal, using staples in the industry a whole 20 years before most were ever widely used.

The cast, which will be a big thing on here with Kurosawa films, is terrific, featuring the return of the great Toshiro Mifune, who plays such a fun and likable character, but is also serious and no-nonsense. His interactions with the 2, played by veteran Kurosawa actors Minoru Chinaki and Kamatari Fujiwara, make this film so egregiously funny and enjoyable. And Misa Uehara as the princess is able to say so much, without saying anything (literally, they pretend she’s mute). All beautiful performances, that give the film such a heart.

Once again, the culture presented, along with the cinematography to truly capture all of that is really well presented, and it no doubt inspired much of what we would go onto see in Star Wars.
Again, it’s such a well acted film, with a simple, yet classic story of a journey that takes our characters from one point to the next, developing their bond throughout, while using enhancing interactions all throughout to move it along naturally, without forcing it at all. I can’t get enough of it, as Kurosawa ditches Eastern stories and filmmaking for an inherently Western style, that would go on inspire filmmaking in the West coincidentally.

9/10