Kagemusha
Kagemusha | |
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20th Century Fox (International) | |
Release date |
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Running time | 180 minutes |
Country |
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Language | Japanese |
Budget |
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Box office | $33 million (est.) |
Kagemusha (影武者, Shadow Warrior) is a 1980
The film won the
Plot
During the
Nobukado presents the thief to Shingen's generals, proposing to have him impersonate Shingen full-time. Although the thief is unaware of Shingen's death initially, he eventually finds Shingen's preserved corpse in a large jar, having believed it to contain treasure. The generals then decide they cannot trust the thief and release him. Later, the jar is dropped into Lake Suwa, which spies working for the Tokugawa and Oda forces witness. Suspecting that Shingen has died, the spies go to report their observation, but the thief, having overheard the spies, returns to the Takeda forces and offers to work as a kagemusha. The Takeda clan preserves the deception by announcing that they were simply making an offering of sake to the god of the lake, and the spies are ultimately convinced by the thief's performance.
Returning home, the kagemusha successfully fools Shingen's retinue by imitating the late warlord's gestures and learning more about him. When the kagemusha must preside over a clan meeting, he is instructed by Nobukado to remain silent until Nobukado brings the generals to a consensus, whereupon the kagemusha will simply agree with the generals' plan and dismiss the council. However, Shingen's son Katsuyori is incensed by his father's decree of the three year subterfuge, which delays his inheritance and leadership of the clan. Katsuyori thus decides to test the kagemusha in front of the council, as the majority of the attendants are still unaware of Shingen's death. He directly asks the kagemusha what course of action should be taken, but the kagemusha is able to answer convincingly in Shingen's own manner, which further impresses the generals.
Soon, in 1573, Nobunaga mobilizes his forces to attack Azai Nagamasa, continuing his campaign in central Honshu to maintain his control of Kyoto against the growing opposition. When the Tokugawa and Oda forces launch an attack against the Takeda, Katsuyori begins a counter-offensive against the advice of his generals. The kagemusha is then forced to lead reinforcements in the Battle of Takatenjin, and helps inspire the troops to victory. In a fit of overconfidence however, the kagemusha attempts to ride Shingen's notoriously temperamental horse, and falls off. When those who rush to help him see that he does not have Shingen's battle scars, he is revealed as an impostor, and is driven out in disgrace, allowing Katsuyori to take over the clan. Sensing weakness in the Takeda clan leadership, the Oda and Tokugawa forces are emboldened to begin a full-scale offensive into the Takeda homeland.
By 1575, now in full control of the Takeda army, Katsuyori leads a counter-offensive against Nobunaga in Nagashino. Although courageous in their assault, several waves of Takeda cavalry and infantry are cut down by volleys of gunfire from Oda arquebusiers deployed behind wooden stockades, effectively eliminating the Takeda army. The kagemusha, who has followed the Takeda army, desperately takes up a spear and charges toward the Oda lines before being shot himself. Mortally wounded, the kagemusha attempts to retrieve the fūrinkazan banner, which had fallen into a river, but succumbs to his wounds in the water where his body is carried away by the current.
Production
Kurosawa originally cast the actor
Kurosawa wrote a part in Kagemusha for his longtime regular actor
According to Lucas, Kurosawa used 5,000 extras for the final battle sequence, filming for a whole day, then he cut it down to 90 seconds in the final release. Many special effects, and a number of scenes that filled holes in the story, landed on the "
Cast
- Tatsuya Nakadai as Takeda Shingen (武田 信玄) and the Kagemusha (影武者)
- Tsutomu Yamazaki as Takeda Nobukado (武田 信廉), Shingen's younger brother.
- Kenichi Hagiwara as Takeda Katsuyori (武田 勝頼), Shingen's son and heir.
- Jinpachi Nezu as Tsuchiya Sohachiro (土屋 宗八郎), chief bodyguard for Takeda Shingen and the Kagemusha.
- Hideji Ōtaki as Yamagata Masakage (山縣 昌景), Shingen's most experienced general.
- Daisuke Ryu as Oda Nobunaga (織田 信長), one of Shingen's chief rivals for control of Japan.
- Masayuki Yui as Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川 家康), Nobunaga's strongest ally.
- Kaori Momoi as Otsuyanokata (お津弥の方), one of Shingen's concubines.
- Mitsuko Baisho as Oyunokata (於ゆうの方), another one of Shingen's concubines.
- Hideo Murota as Baba Nobuharu (馬場 信春), one of the chief generals in the Takeda Clan's army.
- Takayuki Shiho as Naitō Masatoyo (内藤 昌豊), another important general in the Takeda Clan's army.
- Kōji Shimizu as Atobe Katsusuke (跡部 勝資)
- Noburo Shimizu as Hara Masatane (原 昌胤)
- Sen Yamamoto as Oyamada Nobushige (小山田 信茂)
- Shuhei Sugimori as Kōsaka Masanobu (高坂 昌信)
- Takashi Shimura as Taguchi Gyobu (田口刑部)
- Eiichi Kanakubo as Uesugi Kenshin (上杉 謙信), Shingen's other chief rival for control of Japan.
- Francis Selleck as Priest
- Jirō Yabuki as Equestrian
- Kamatari Fujiwara as Doctor
Release
Kagemusha was released theatrically in Japan on April 26, 1980, where it was distributed by
Box office
Kagemusha was the number one Japanese film on the domestic market in 1980, earning ¥2.7 billion in
Overseas, the film grossed $4 million in the United States
Accolades
Kagemusha won numerous honours in Japan and abroad, marking the beginning of Kurosawa's most successful decade in international awards, the 1980s.
In 2016, The Hollywood Reporter ranked the film 10th among 69 counted winners of the Palme d'Or to date, concluding "Set against the wars of 16th-century Japan, Kurosawa's majestic samurai epic is still awe-inspiring, not only in its historical pageantry, but for imagery that communicates complex ideas about reality, belief and meaning."[25]
See also
- List of submissions to the 53rd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
- List of Japanese submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
References
- ISBN 978-0-520-22037-9.
- ^ a b c d e Galbraith IV 2008, p. 322.
- ^ Aubrey Solomon, Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History, Scarecrow Press, 1989 p259
- ^ a b Kagemusha at Box Office Mojo
- Criterion Collection. p. 13.
- ^ "Greatest Japanese films by magazine Kinema Junpo (2009 version)". Archived from the original on July 11, 2012. Retrieved 2011-12-26.
- ^ Conrad, David A. (2022). Akira Kurosawa and Modern Japan, 195 McFarland & Co.
- ^ "Kako haikyū shūnyū jōi sakuhin 1980-nen" (in Japanese). Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Kagemusha". Toho Kingdom. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
- ^ "Kagemusha (1980) - United States". JP's Box-Office. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- KinoPoisk(in Russian). Retrieved 20 March 2022.
- ^ "Kagemusha (1980)". JP's Box-Office. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
- )
- ^ Wild 2014, p. 165.
- ^ a b "Festival de Cannes: Kagemusha". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
- ^ a b "The 53rd Academy Awards (1981) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2013-06-08.
- ^ "NY Times: Kagemusha". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-10-18. Retrieved 2008-12-31.
- ^ "Film in 1981". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
- ^ "Prix et nominations : César 1981". AlloCiné. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
- ^ "Cronologia Dei Premi David Di Donatello". David di Donatello. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
- ^ "Kagemusha (The Shadow Warrior)". Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
- ^ "35th (1980)". Mainichi Film Awards. 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
- National Board of Review of Motion Pictures. 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
- ^ THR Staff (10 May 2016). "Cannes: All the Palme d'Or Winners, Ranked". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
Bibliography
- Conrad, David A. (2022). Akira Kurosawa and Modern Japan. McFarland & Co. ISBN 978-1-4766-8674-5.
- Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. ISBN 978-1461673743. Retrieved October 29, 2013.
- Wild, Peter (2014). Akira Kurosawa. Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1780233802.
External links
- Kagemusha at IMDb
- Kagemusha at AllMovie
- Kagemusha at the TCM Movie Database
- Kagemusha: From Painting to Film Pageantry an essay by Peter Grilli at the Criterion Collection
- Kagemusha (in Japanese) at the Japanese Movie Database
- Kagemusha at Rotten Tomatoes