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The Hidden Fortress (1958)
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
The movie that confirmed Kurosawa's greatest strength, his innovative handling of genre. It's set amid the civil wars of 16th century Japan, and concerns samurai Mifune escorting a princess and two oafish peasants through enemy territory. Kurosawa's treatment is part traditional (the plotting, the concept, the use of Noh theatre music), part eclectic (there are reminiscences of John Ford Westerns), and part truly idiosyncratic (the Shakespearean contracts between clowns and heroes). It was clearly only a small step from this to the delights of Yojimbo and Sanjuro.Author: TR
Cast & crew
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Producer: Masumi Fujimoto
Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Misa Uehara, Takashi Shimura, Susumu Fujita, Eiko Miyoshi full cast
Genre(s): Period/Swashbucklers
Duration: 123 mins
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