Kagemusha (1980) ( The Shadow Warrior )

Kagemusha (1980) (DVD) (*)

$22.99

Original Title: The Shadow Warrior
Screened, competed or awarded at:
BAFTA Awards
Cannes Film Festival
Ceasar Awards
David Donatello Awards
Golden Globes
Oscar Academy Awards
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Subtitles )
French ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
French ( Subtitles )
Japanese ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )

Product Origin/Format:
France ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
152 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.85:1)

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 1980 and produced in:
Japan ( India, Eastern Asia )

Directed By:
Akira Kurosawa

Written By:
Masato Ide
Akira Kurosawa

Actors:
Tatsuya Nakadai ..... Shingen Takeda/Kagemusha
Tsutomu Yamazaki ..... Nobukado Takeda
Kenichi Hagiwara ..... Katsuyori Takeda
Jinpachi Nezu ..... Sohachiro Tsuchiya
Hideji Otaki ..... Masakage Yamagata
Daisuke Ryu ..... Nobunaga Oda
Masayuki Yui ..... Ieyasu Tokugawa
Kaori Momoi ..... Otsuyanokata
Mitsuko Baisho ..... Oyunokata
Hideo Murota ..... Nobufusa Baba
Takayuki Shiho ..... Masatoyo Naito
Koji Shimizu ..... Katsusuke Atobe
Noburo Shimizu ..... Masatane Hara
Sen Yamamoto ..... Nobushige Oyamada
Shuhei Sugimori ..... Masanobu Kosaka

Synopsis:

In 1572, there is a civil war in Japan, and three powerful clans, leaded by the lords Shingen Takeda (Tatsuya Nakadai), Nobunaga Oda (Daisuke Ryu) and Ieyasu Tokugawa (Masayuki Yui), dispute the conquest of Kyoto. When Shingen is mortally wounded, the Takeda clan hides the incident and uses a poor thief to be the double of the strategist Shingen and keep the respect of their enemies. Along the years, Kagemusha incorporates the spirit of the warrior of the dead warlord.

Just as many American studio-era directors found acclaim abroad that was denied them in their home country, by 1980 Akira Kurosawa's reputation outside Japan exceeded his esteem at home. As uncompromising as ever, he found considerable difficulty securing backing for his ambitious projects. Unsure he would be able to film it, the director, an aspiring artist before he entered filmmaking, converted Kagemusha into a series of paintings, and it was partly on the basis of these that he won the financial support of longtime admirers Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas. Set in the 16th century, when powerful warlords competed for control of Japan, it offers an examination of the nature of political power and the slipperiness of identity. For some time, Shingen Takeda Tatsuya Nakadai has been able to stay removed from the heat of battle by using his brother Nobukado Tsutomu Yamazaki as a double. As the film opens, Nobukado offers another option, having discovered a condemned thief (also played by Tatsuya Nakadai) bearing an uncanny resemblance to the warlord. After he insists on witnessing the fall of an enemy in person, Shingen falls victim to a sniper's bullet, forcing his advisers to present the thief as the fallen warrior. At first awkward in his new position and plagued by dreams in which the spirit of his double confronts him, he slowly grows into the role even as his enemies begin to advance on his kingdom. The winner of the Palm D'Or at Cannes, Kagemusha: The Shadow Warrior has also been released as The Double.

When a powerful warlord in medieval Japan dies, a poor thief recruited to impersonate him finds difficulty living up to his role and clashes with the spirit of the warlord during turbulent times in the kingdom.

This product was added to our catalog on Sunday 21 June, 2020.