THE HIDDEN FORTRESS | KAKUSHI TORIDE NO SAN AKUNIN

JAPAN | 1958 | B&W | DCP | 139’ | JAPANESE

Two shabby soldiers decide to help a man and a woman cross the enemy border in exchange for gold, not knowing that he is actually a Samurai and she is a Princess. "Seven Samurai" and "Yojimbo" have the (just) glory, but this is the hidden treasure of a stylistically inexhaustible filmography. Light touch, brilliant, pure action that practically never stops, terrific blocking and a perception of time during the shot, make up a film lexicon on how movement is filmed, how landscape is used and how the cinephile’s gaze is mesmerized. Also, the film that not only inspired George Lucas's “Star Wars”, but also saw him borrow whole sections of the plot and countless scenes for his own space epic.

photo credit ©1958 TOHO CO., LTD.

DIRECTOR: Akira Kurosawa
SCREENWRITERS: Ryūzō Kikushima, Hideo Oguni, Shinobu Hashimoto, Akira Kurosawa
DoP: Ichio Yamazaki
MUSIC: Masaru Sato
EDITOR: Akira Kurosawa
PRINCIPAL CAST: Toshiro Mifune, Minoru Chiaki, Kamatari Fujiwara, Misa Uehara, Susumu Fujita

AKIRA KUROSAWA
Japanese filmmaker, legend of world cinema. He was recognized more than any of his Asian counterparts and had an overall and profound influence on Western film culture. 30 films, a multi-award winning body of work (Oscar, Golden Lion, Golden Palm, among others), a legendary 16-film collaboration with Toshiro Mifune, a life and work that marked globally the artistry of the 20th century.

FILMOGRAPHY (SELECTED)
1990 Dreams 
1985 Ran 
1970 Dodes’ka-den 
1965 Red Beard 
1963 High and Low 
1961 Yojimbo 
1960 The Bad Sleep Well 
1958 The Hidden Fortress 
1957 Throne of Blood 
1954 Seven Samurai 
1952 Ikiru 
1951 The Idiot 
1950 Rashomon