KAGEMUSHA (DVD/2 DISC/1980/1.85/STEREO/ENG-SUB) DVD

Kagemusha
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. ~ Keith Phipps, All Movie Guide

Cast Tatsuya Nakadai as Shingen Takeda/Kagemusha Tsutomu Yamazaki as Nobukado Takeda Kenichi Hagiwara as Katsuyori Takeda Kota Yui as Takemaru Shuji Otake as Yamagata Daisuke Ryu as Oda

Crew Yoshiro Muraki - Art Director Akira Kurosawa - Director Francis Ford Coppola - Executive Producer George Lucas - Executive Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka - Executive Producer Shinichiro Ikebe - Composer (Music Score) Shinobu Muraki - Production Designer Takao Saito - Cinematographer Shoji Ueda - Cinematographer Asaichi Nakai - Cinematographer Masaharu Ueda - Cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa - Cinematographer Masato Ide - Producer Akira Kurosawa - Producer Akira Kurosawa - Screenwriter Masato Ide - Screenwriter

Kagemusha
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. ~ Dan Jardine, All Movie Guide
 

Akira Kurosawa: British Academy of Film and Television, Best Director (winner) Yoshiro Muraki: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Art Direction (nominated)

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Foreign Language Film (nominated) Cannes Film Festival, Palme d'Or (winner) French Academy of Cinema, Best Foreign Film (winner) Golden Globe, Best Foreign Film (nominated) National Board of Review, Best Foreign Film (nominated)

General Specifications: Language Options: Japanese Subtitle Options: English Sound Processing: DD2: Dolby Digital Stereo DDS: Dolby Digital Surround Additional 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 DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1: Theatre Wide-Screen MPAA Rating: DVD Discs Included: 2 DVD Sides: 2 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 180 min   DVD Chapters: 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]