Kagemusha

From Zanecorpwiki

A cinematic triumph. DVD

Summary

I imagine if I told you this movie was about a guy who stands around impersonating a 16th century Japanese warlord--mostly by hanging around the late lord's castle... and it's 3 hours long, correctly be a little incredulous. It's not really a grabber of tale. The time and place make the characters a little hard to relate to. They're believable, interesting, and very well portrayed, but there's a lot of formality and class awkwardness, very little empathy. Even the tragedy of it all is muted by the distance of time and culture as well as the stylized character of much of the imagery.

What makes it all worthwhile is the visual nature of this movie. Visually, it reminds me of the golden age Hollywood Roman epics from the late 50's and early 60's. Sweeping scenes and riotous, saturated color. "Cinematic" in a way that we haven't seen in US films in half a century.

Which all means if you're not into "cinema" or Kurosawa or medieval Japan, there's probably not much here for you. For myself, I considered the film gripping, and it's a testament to Kurosawa's genius that he's able to do this with just pallet, tableau, and an artful arrangement of details.