Kagemusha [Criterion Collection] [2 Discs]

Director: Akira Kurosawa

Overview

"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."

Product Details

Release Date:	03/29/2005
UPC:	0715515015622
Original Release:	1980
Source:	Criterion
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	3:00:00
Sales rank:	15,490

Special Features

New, restored high-definition digital transfer; Audio commentary by Stephen Prince, author of The Warrior's Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa; Theatrical trailers and teasers; New and improved English subtitle translation; Lucas, Coppola and Kurosawa featurette; A 41-minute documentary on the making of Kagemusha; Image: Kurosawa's Continuity; A series of Suntory Whiskey commercials made on the set of Kagemusha; A gallery of storyboards painted by Kurosawa and images of their realization on -screen; Plus: a 48 page booklet

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Tatsuya Nakadai	Shingen Kadeda
Kenichi Hagiwara	Katsuyori Takeda,Katsuyori Takeda
Tsutomu Yamazaki	Nobukado Takeda
Shuji Otaki	Yamagata
Kota Yui	Takemaru,Ieyasu Tokugawa
Hideo Morata	Baba
Daisuke Ryu	Oda
Kaori Momoi	Otsuyanokata
Hideo Murota	Nobufusa Baba
Yasuhito Yamanaka	Ranmaru Mori
Kumeko Otowa	une infirmi?re
Tetsuo Yamashita	Nagahide Niwa
Kai At?	Zenjiro Amemiya
Toshiaki Tanabe	Kugutsushi
Norio Matsui	Tadatsugu Sakai
Francis Selleck	Priest
Koji Shimizu	Actor
Shuji Otake	Yamagata
Takashi Shimura	Gyobu Taguchi
Mitsuko Baisho	Oyunokata
Kamatari Fujiwara	Doctor
Jinpachi Nezu	Sohachiro Tsuchiya
Shinichir? Ikebe	Composer

Technical Credits

Akira Kurosawa

Masato Ide

Akira Kurosawa	Executive Producer,Producer,Screenwriter
George Lucas	Executive Producer,Producer
Tomoyuki Tanaka	Producer,Executive Producer
Masato Ide	Screenwriter,Producer
Fumio Yanoguchi	Sound Effects
Francis Coppola	Executive Producer

Scene Index

Side #1 -- Kagemusha
1. The Thief [6:57]
2. The Shot [8:38]
3. Rumor Spreads [5:23]
4. A Final Wish [4:06]
5. The Snpier's Re-enactment [4:37]
6. Last Words [4:37]
7. The Double Enters [3:09]
8. Spies Seek the Truth [7:17]
9. "I'm not a Puppet" [9:39]
10. The Burial [10:13]
11. Takemaru [6:24]
12. An Education in Being Shingen [10:26]
13. No Horses or Mistresses [1:30]
14. The Problem of Katsuyori [1:30]
15. A Changed Man [5:21]
16. A Test for Shingen [1:38]
17. The True Heir [2:55]
18. "Immovable as a Mountain" [1:58]
19. The Takeda Clan Meets [8:27]
20. A Tough Assignment [2:07]
21. The Dream [3:56]
22. Nobunaga Sends a Messenger [2:46]
23. Katsuyori Goes to Battle [2:56]
24. The Doctor Visits [5:39]
25. Katsuyori Recieves Support [18:15]
26. Ieyasu and Nobunaga Meet [4:45]
27. The Phantom of the Late Father [1:02]
28. The Thief is Exposed [8:16]
29. Shingen's Funeral [4:33]
30. The Battle of Nagashino [18:02]
31. End Credits [3:03]
32. Color Bars [:00]
Side #2 -- Kagemusha: The Supplements
1. A Film in Storyboards [4:01]
2. Casting [3:14]
3. Nakadai Replaces Katsu [4:55]
4. Production Recollections [8:24]
5. The Shoot [4:25]
6. Set, Lighting, and Music [8:58]
7. The Final Battle [6:58]
1. The Thief [2:13]
2. The Shot [2:28]
3. Rumor Spreads [2:08]
4. A Final Wish [1:12]
5. The Sniper's Re-enactment [:40]
6. Last Words [1:30]
7. The Double Enters [1:00]
8. Spies Seek the Truth [1:32]
9. I'm Not a Puppet [1:36]
10. The Burial [2:41]
11. Takemaru [1:10]
12. No Horses or Mistresses [1:19]
13. "Immovable as a Mountain" [1:41]
14. Nobunaga Sends a Messenger [:53]
15. Katsuyori Goes to Battle [1:32]
16. Katsuyori Receives Support [6:51]
17. Ieyasu and Nobunaga Meet [1:00]
18. The Thief is Exposed [:33]
19. Shingen's Funeral [1:24]
20. The Battle of Nagashino [10:06]
1. Commercial #1 [1:02]
2. Commercial #2 [:32]
3. Commercial #3 [:32]
4. Commercial #4 [1:02]
5. Commercial #5 [:31]

Menu

Side #1 -- Kagemusha
Play the Movie
Chapters
Commentary
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Trailers
U.S Trailer
Japanese Teaser
Japanese Trailer
Subtitles
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Side #2 -- Kagemusha: The Supplements
Lucas, Coppola, and Kurosawa
Play
Akira Kurosawa: It is Wonderful to Create
Play
Index
Image: Kurosawa's continuity
Play
Index
A Vision Realized
Suntory Whiskey Commercials
Play
Index
Subtitles
English Subtitles: On/Off

Editorial Reviews

Kagemusha was an atypical entry in the canon of Akira Kurosawa, the master of the samurai epic. At the time, Kurosawa was gradually losing his eyesight, and his films were developing an increasingly impressive visual splendor. However, in Kagemusha, the action sequences are much less thrilling than in Kurosawa's other samurai epics. Here his focus is on character development and philosophical discourse. The film swings like a pendulum between stillness and action, an occasionally jarring mix of David Lean-like panoramas with intimate character study. In Kagemusha (which translates as "shadow warrior"), Kurosawa examines the concept of the double as a means to delve into enigmatic and paradoxical philosophical issues of identity, power, self-worth, and leadership. At first, Tatsuya Nakadai appears a little stiff in the essential dual role of warlord and thief, but his performance relies on subtle differences of intonation and gesture to reveal the evolution of his character. As always, Kurosawa's exploration of the values of feudal Japan provokes contemporary audiences to make parallels with modern Japan, a tendency that did not necessarily endear him to his countrymen. In fact, by 1980 Kurosawa was such a persona non grata in Japan that he had not made a film in five years: Kagemusha would not have been made without the financial assistance of George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola.