Criterion : Hidden Forteress (1958) (Kurosawa)

Criterion Collection laatujulkaisu. Vaatii aluekoodivapaan DVD soittimen toimiakseen. Sisältää englanti tekstit.

"Legend is that Kurosawa made Hidden Fortress, a very commercial film by his standards, as a favor to the studios for permitting him to make more artistic films like Rashomon. It is also well known that Hidden Fortress inspired that famous western set in space, Star Wars. So, is Hidden Fortress any good? Yes, its very good. The visual magic of Kurosawa's best films is present throughout. We have Toshiro Mifune playing a very powerful Samurai General and even engaging in one very realistic samurai duel.

Throughout this movie, a film about two ne'er-do-goods seeking a treasure of gold and the princess they are forced to escort and protect, I was reminded of Sergio Leone. I was especially reminded of his best western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Certainly this film must have been admired by Sergio Leone because we do see a lot of visual influences in his films, coupled with the humor and lack of scruples in central characters.

This is admittedly a fairytale, but a superbly told one with some amazing scenes and photography. Mifune stands like a titan in every scene that he is present. The only problems were probably the excessive length - at least 20 minutes could have been cut from the movie, and the ridiculous dress-code and voice of the actress playing Princess Yuki. Is that how medieval Japanese princesses talked?"