The Hidden Fortress by legendary director Akira Kurosawa is probably best known as one of the films that inspired George Lucas when writing Star Wars. As such, I imagine a lot of people will go in and expect there to be a lot similarities between the two films. Well, plot-wise there aren’t so many, but I think the main thing Lucas took from the film was the idea of two lowly characters becoming involved in a larger conflict (here it’s the peasants Tahei and Matashichi, and in Star Wars it’s the droids). There are also a few stylistic similarities as well, especially during the scene transitions. But the story is that during a search for gold these peasants stumble across a general and a princess from a defeated army, and the four of them come together to try and find a way back to the princess’ home territory.
I think my expectations were set a little high for this because I don’t think of it as highly as the reputation that precedes it. I also think the relationship with Star Wars doesn’t do the film any favours either because people inevitable compare the two. The Hidden Fortress is a much slower film and I thought it did drag in a few places. It was funny though, and I did enjoy the contrast between the greedy, selfish peasants and the loyal general. There was a commentary about duty, loyalty and kindness that gave a lot of depth to the story, and it was quite amusing to see how the peasants always only had their own needs and interests at heart, even when they were swept up into a war. There were a number of action sequences that were cool but the ending…well, I thought one of the characters changed too drastically. I felt it was such a big shift in attitude that it needed a bit more nuance, and since the film spent a lot more time on other things I think it could have afforded it.
The other big negative of the film is the actress who played the princess. She barked out every line in this high-pitched, grating voice that was just awful. I didn’t have a problem with her attitude and I actually think she was an interesting character, but the actress was horrible. I feel bad for saying it but I’m glad that she had to pretend to be a mute for a large part of the film. I’m wondering if that was always in the story or whether it was something invented after they got annoyed with her voice.
Overall I enjoyed it and I’m glad that I took the time to watch it, but I’m not sure that I’d watch it again. I liked that it had some depth to it but I do feel some of the sequences could have been shortened. Still, it was obviously an important film in the landscape of the history of cinema so it probably should be on most people’s watch list.
