Review of Kagemusha (1980) by Nick O — 02 Jul 2011

As hectic as Akira Kurosawa's "Kagemusha" gets, it's the trade of tones where the master Japanese writer-director succeeds. From the heady start there's claim to false positives, a warlord and kin talking over the physical likeness of a dude to take the higher-up's place. Why? Try he's sick and tired of being sick and tired. In 16th century Japan, three fortresses duke out the terrain: those of Tokuga Ieyusa (Masayuki Yui), Oda Nubunaga (Daisuke Ryu) and the Takeda clan, where ringer Shingen look-alike Kagemusha (Tatsuya Nakadai in twin roles), a thief, is asked to bear the group's ultimate namesake for three years when a musical sniper takes out the real Shingen in a hidden nighttime punch.

Confused? Don't sweat it. Things clear up as "Kagemusha" (meaning "shadow warrior" or "the double") kisses itself clean. As for stylish masterpiece, you're half right. Kurosawa framed "Kagemusha" as an influence of cultural paintings, and the tricks of its narrative keep cracking open like the cork to a fine pinot. (In words of one character over a meal: "It looks like blood, but it's wine.") That's Kurosawa for you. Action comes with repercussions that home a sort of Jedi force alive at the center. "Kagemusha" isn't a comedy, black as it turns, and suffers some from messy sentimentality.

In contradiction, the movie works the best with shots of open skyline swept in inherent vice. The bloody lesson shouldn't be packaged in verse, but it is -- not a Kurosawa abide. What is: that each battle plays like a swimming of images from a damned time, sliced with killer acting and lampoon direction. It's shot with knowledge of duplicating an original, with a humane emotional pact of pain and fear that only curb Kurosawa's heart of darkness.