The Hidden Fortress

"We can rely on their greed. Make them carry gold and they'll put up with anything"

Akira Kurosawa's Hidden Fortressis a samurai epic of three battle warlords told from a worm's eye view. Taking a fairly typical tale of heroism and honour in feudal Japan, Kurosawa tells his story via the perspectives of two colourfully pathetic characters - Tahei (Minoru Chiaki) and Matashichi (Kamatari Fujiwara). These two beggar-peasants are cowardly opportunists, always bickering as they navigate their way through two lands locked in war. It's an interesting storytelling device in that the primary plot of a samurai (Toshiro Mifune) smuggling a hunted princess (Misa Uehara) to safety starts out as a subplot, with events reflecting through the misadventures of Tahei and Matashichi, who unwittingly find themselves tied to the fate of the princess and her protector.

The hidden fortress of the title is the last stronghold of Akizuki clan, tucked away between some mountains and discovered by our antiheroes as they scavenge for loot. They meet Rokurota (Mifune), a samurai general who decides to use the two fools to help him save his clan's leader, the Princess Yuki. A lot of the film is initially told from the perspective of Tahei and Matashichi; the hero and heroine are introduced to us seperately through the eyes of these two lowly sidekicks. It's a different way to tell a familiar story, the effectiveness of which helps reinforce the heroic qualities of Rokurota and the Princess as we see the strength of their characters in sharp contrast to by Tahei and Matashichi. The first scene we get outside of Tahei and Matashichi's POV comes around the 50 minute mark, and it's a memorable shift in tone that finally lets the audience in on the dramatic thrust of a traditional hero's quest. The rest of the film features this motley group of characters working together but towards different ends - the peasants want to escape with the gold, whereas Rokurota is on a more noble mission.


The strength of the adventure also lies in the fine performances and great characters... Mifune leads the cast as Rokurota, a born leader reduced by circumstances. He's clever enough to make do with the paltry tools he's left with, and this means manipulating the two peasants into helping save the Princess. The depth of his loyalty to the Princess means that he even sends his own sister to be executed in her place, and his fearsomeness is palpable in the scenes where he runs down two soldiers on horseback, holding his sword aloft. The Princess is a great character too... she's had a privileged and sheltered life, and through this adventure she learns what the outside world is really like. In her disguise as a mute she is also able to observe the true nature of everyday people for the first time, and Uehara gives a realistically understated performance that hammers home the character's inner nobility. Of course, we shouldn't forget the peasants either - two wonderfully over-the-top sidekicks brought to centrestage. Comical and greedy, suspicious and hopeless. They also get all the best lines...

"Don't touch me fool, I'm uncomfortable enough"
"It's your face that makes me uncomfortable"

Hidden Fortress shouldn't be dismissed as just a superficial exercise in perspective either. Kurosawa's editing prowess ensures fluid and entertainingly concise methods of storytelling. Such as an early scene that cuts from Tahei and Matashichi gingerly escaping the aftermath of a palace-sttack to a shot of them running full pelt after stealing some rice, and then a second sharp cut that shows them sitting while the rice cooks. It's not the most amazing sequence in cinema history, but it's a highly effective conveyance of action that shows how Kurosawa was able to actively shape the speed of his story.

The film also uses Rokurota and the Princess to examine themes of keeping one's humanity in the face of defeat... setting up a discussion of nobility and dignity vs. compassion and sorrow. The Princess chastises Rokurota's lack of tears for his sister, and makes them use their gold to buy a fellow clanswoman out of her slavery, and through them both Hidden Fortress demonstrates the qualities of good leadership. This is more or less what the whole film is really about if you take out the two peasants.


One more thing worth mentioning is how highly influential Hidden Fortress was on George Lucas in relation to the first Star Wars film. See related texts below for more.

DIRECTOR: Akira Kurosawa
WRITER/SOURCE: Shinobo Hashimoto, Ryuzo Kikushima, Akira Kurosawa and Hideo Oguni.
KEY ACTORS: Toshiro Mifune, Miso Uehara, Minoru Chiaki, Kamitari Fujiwara, Takashi Shimura, Susumu Fujita

RELATED TEXTS:
- Remade in 2008 as The Last Princess.
- George Lucas' use of frame wipes in Star Wars was lifted directly from Kurosawa. Lucas also took inspiration from the idea of telling a story from the perspective of the two lowest characters, and told the first Star Wars film from the POV of C3PO and R2D2, two lowly droids. The end of Star Wars, with Princess Leia rewarding Luke and Han with medals, is remniscent of the end of The Hidden Fortress as well.
- Both Star Wars and The Hidden Fortress took some inspiration from the mythic John Ford western The Searchers.
- Other Kurosawa Samurai films: Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Throne of Blood, Sanjuro, Kagemusha and Ran.