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Rating: **
Genre: Kurosawa MPAA: NR (Should probably be PG) Review #: 24 Cast: Directed by...Akira Kurosawa Written by...Shinobu Hashimoto Written by...Ryuzo Kikushima Minoru Chiaki...Tahei Susumu Fujita...General Hyoe Tadokoro Kamatari Fujiwara...Matakishi Toshiko Higuchi...The Farmer's Daughter Toshirô Mifune...General Rokurota Makabe Eiko Miyoshi...Lady-in-waiting Takashi Shimura...The Old General, Izumi Nagakura Kichijiro Ueda...Girl-Dealer Misa Uehara...Princess Yukihime Koji Mitsui...Soldier Tadao Nakamaru...Young Man Rinsaku Ogata...Young Man Shiten Ohashi...Samurai Ikio Sawamura...Gambler |
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Review:
This was the first Kurosawa movie that I ever saw. I was intregued, both by the reputation of Kurosawa, and because the box said that George Lucas claimed it as one of the primary inspirations for Star Wars. I was both surprised and disappointed by this movie. Not to besmitch what is one of the master's favorite movies, but I thought it was a bit boring in places. Although, I can see where a lot of the Star Wars elements come in. Lots of the plot points are superficially similar to the original Star Wars, and the two main characters are obviously the inspiration for R2D2 and C3PO. Just about everything else is different, though. This is supposed to be an "Adventure/Comedy", and it did have about equal doses of both. That doesn't stop me from saying that there were many unneccesary scenes that make it too long and boring. |
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| The two main characters, Tahei and Matashichi are peasant farmers who were part of a losing army. They fled, and are now trapped in enemy territory. All they want is to get home, and stay out of trouble. That is, until they discover some gold in a stick while gathering firewood. Then Greed overrides Cowardice, and they fall in with a Samuria General named Rokurota and Princess Yukihime (isn't that redundant? The Suffix "hime" means princess), who are trying to sneak away from an invading army. What Tahei and Matashichi are really interested in is getting home alive with as much gold as possible. They are probably the last two guys that Rokurota should recruit, but they're all he's got. Of course, Rokurota's no fool, and he realizes that if Tahei and Matashichi realize that they're escorting a princess, they'll also realize that they could get a pretty good ransom for her. |
| I was expecting more from Akira Kurosawa. He's the Director's Director, the guy that all of the other directors idolize. His movies have been remade into "The Magnificent Seven" and "A Fistfull of Dollars", and this movie was called a primary inspiration for Star Wars. I wanted to see what all of the hype was over. This wasn't the movie to see. I have since seen other Kurosawa movies, and they lived up to the reputation. This one did not. It was a humorous movie, but dragged along too much. There just weren't enough plot points to sustain a movie of this length. I mean, how long were we expected to remain entertained by Tahei and Matashichi running up a gravel-covered hill and then sliding back down again? It's pretty flimsy material for a so-called comedy. |
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| The performances are very good, however. Especially the eternal samurai, Toshirô Mifune. He risks life and limb for a princess who is whiney, and just doesn't get it. Still, I wanted more. It's not that this is a bad movie, it's just not a good introduction to Kurosawa's work. Do yourself a favor, and rent "Throne of Blood", "Ikiru", "Seven Samurai", or "Ran" instead. You can thank me later. |
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