Kagemusha

Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Tsutomu Yamazaki Director: Akira Kurosawa Original UK Premiere: 1980 Dvd Release: 3rd June, 2002 Number Of Discs: 1 Format: PAL, Subtitled, Widescreen, Region 2 Encoding Subtitled In: Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish

Article Index: [Background Info] [DVD Review] [Biographies] [Articles/Resources] [Link To This Article] Looking To Buy? Buy This DVD Here

Kagemusha is a film by Akira Kurosawa. The word is Japanese & means imposter. The story is of a man who is taught to pretend being an already dead warlord for the sake of keeping his clan united in the upcoming battle. The films takes elements from the Warring States period in Japanese history. The warlord in the story is based on Daimyo Takeda Shingen & the battle is based on the Battle of Nagashino of 1573. The film was released in 1980 & is generally considered a great costume reincarnation of feudal Japan with its endless warlordism as well as a story of a man with split personality. Or generally an actor who falls too deep into his role.   at IMDb .com Posters Of Kagemusha

The 1970s were difficult years for the great Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. Having been unable to secure full Japanese backing for his epic project Kagemusha, the 70-year-old master found American support from George Lucas & Francis Ford Coppola, who served as co-executive producers for this magnificent 1980 production, to that date the most expensive film in Japanese history. Set in the late-16th century, Kagemusha centres on the Takeda clan, one of three warlord clans battling for control of Japan at the end of the feudal period. When their leader Lord Shingen is mortally wounded in battle, he orders that his death be kept secret & that his kagemusha, or shadow warrior, take his place for a period of three years to prevent clan disruption & enemy takeover. The identical double is a petty thief spared from execution due to his uncanny resemblance to Lord Shingen, but his true identity cannot prevent the tides of fate from rising over the Takeda clan in a climactic scene of battlefield devastation. Through stunning visuals & meticulous attention to every physical & stylistic detail, Kurosawa made a film that restored his status as Japans greatest filmmaker, & the success of Kagemusha enabled the director to make his 1985 masterpiece, Ran. ,

Akira Kurosawa was a prominent Japanese director, producer & screenwriter of movies. To Western audiences, Kurosawa is perhaps Japans best-known filmmaker. His films have greatly influenced a whole generation of filmmakers worldwide. His first film was released in 1943 ; his last in 1999. During his lifetime he saw Japan change from an undeveloped country with military ambitions to a peaceful economic power. Few filmmakers have had a career so long or so acclaimed. Kurosawa was born March 23, 1910, in Omori, Tokyo the youngest of seven children .He trained as a painter & began work in the film industry as an assistant director in 1936. He made his directorial debut in 1943 with Sugata Sanshiro. He became internationally famous with his 1950 film Rashomon which won the Grand Prix at the Venice Film Festival. Although he is most remembered for his films of the 1950s & 1960s, he continued to direct & write films until his death. Kurosawa is most well-known for his period pieces like Seven Samurai & Ran but many of his films dealt with contemporary Japan. Posters Of Kagemusha

Editors Choice: Rhapsody In August, Ran, Kagemusha, Red Beard, Sanjuro, Yojimbo, Hidden Fortress, Throne Of Blood, View DVDology

©2004-2008 DVDArk.co.uk