The Hidden Fortress

The Hidden Fortress (1958) is one of Akira Kurosawa's "lighter" films. While the film has its share of serious content, it is mostly comical and adventurous. The film follows two hilariously greedy peasants who end up in silly places and situations while escorting a princess and her general.

The most important and funniest aspect of the whole story is the interaction between the two peasants. When they're down on their luck they try to get along, but once they receive a chance to get rich they bicker and fight each other until they ruin their great opportunity. It is this tragic yet funny cycle that is repeated so many times during the film - and that never loses its appeal. In fact, The Hidden Fortress actually made me laugh more than any other film I've seen in a month. Sadly the other characters arent quite as good as the two peasants because they are so blank that you can easily forget them.

The film's narrative is a bit weird: while you watch the film its structure remains mysterious because you dont have any idea where it will go next and when it will end - unless you are looking at how much time has passed. Somehow Kurosawa makes the narrative work even though it seems quite chaotic in hindsight.

Kurosawa yet again proves how he can effortlessly punctuate the whole film with brilliant camera movement and editing. For example, after the peasants have worked hard there is a shot when they are walking towards the camera (and the camera is pulled at a similar speed) while talking about the general. Once they begin to suspect his disappearance and come to their own funny conclusion, the camera stops right away (the actors stop as well) in order to enforce the impact of the "conclusion".

Oh melodrama, melodrama. The Hidden Fortress suffers from occassionally terrible melodrama. While the exaggerated performances of the peasants is justified (and essential), there are other performances which are too stiff and melodramatic. Mifune doesnt fall for that as can be expected from him, but Misa Uehara's performance as the princess is a notable example of this problem.

In the end, The Hidden Fortress is a nice and entertaining adventure film. It was supposed to be one though: it was Kurosawa's way to thank the producers for financing riskier films like Rashômon (1950). The film is often compared to the original Star Wars film because it was one of the films that influenced Lucas. There are a lot of similarities and the funny thing is that Star Wars actually does everything even better than The Hidden Fortress. Although, I might actually prefer the peasants to the droid duo of C3P0 and R2D2. I know, I'm a heretic for saying that, but I simply find the two a lot more interesting and funnier.

Score: 7 out of 10