{"id":2601,"date":"2013-02-21T14:31:33","date_gmt":"2013-02-21T13:31:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/?p=2601"},"modified":"2013-02-21T14:31:33","modified_gmt":"2013-02-21T13:31:33","slug":"the-hidden-fortress-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2013\/02\/21\/the-hidden-fortress-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Hidden Fortress"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>
The Hidden Fortress<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

\nFormat:<\/B> DVD

\nDirector:<\/B> Akira Kurosawa

\nWriters:<\/B> Ryûzô Kikushima, Hideo Oguni, Shinobu Hashimoto, Akira Kurosawa

\nCast:<\/B> Toshirô Mifune, Misa Uehara, Minoru Chiaki

\nJapan 1958

\n126 mins
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Akira Kurosawa\u2019s 1958 action adventure The Hidden Fortress<\/i> belongs to a swashbuckling genre of heroic derring-do: jidaigeki<\/i>. Its main innovation was to concentrate its interest on the plight of a pair of quarrelsome cowardly peasants, Tahei (Minoru Chiaki) and Matashichi (Kamatari Fujiwara), who, in the aftermath of a large battle, are forced to bury the dead. The largely comic figures owe their mismatched comedy not only to Laurel and Hardy, but, going further back, Pistol and Bardolph in Shakespeare\u2019s Henriad. They quarrel over gold, they are lazy, greedy, disloyal and potential rapists, always looking to get the upper hand and only ever thinking of rectifying their ways when in danger of imminent death. \u2018Let\u2019s be kinder to each other,\u2019 they cry, only to go back to arguing once the danger has passed. <\/p>\n

Kurosawa\u2019s film is a straightforward action film on one level. Tahei and Matashichi meet up with an important general (Toshiro Mifune) and a princess in disguise, Yuki Akizuki (Misa Uehara), in the hidden fortress of the title. They are lured to helping the pair by the promise of the hidden Akizuki gold, which everyone is searching for. The motley band make their way with the gold disguised as firewood through enemy territory, hunted by soldiers, and heading for the safety of their own land. Like Kurosawa\u2019s later masterpiece Ran<\/i>, The Hidden Fortress<\/i> also has within it the imprecation \u2018take physic pomp\u2019, as the verities of feudal loyalty are interrogated and the princess sees through her own eyes the unfairness and cruelty of the system of which she is a leading representative and beneficiary. She is made aware of the sacrifices \u2013 including the ultimate \u2013 that others are willing to make on her behalf and sees the sufferings of those who are not as fortunate as her in the nature of their births, particularly the position of a poor peasant\u2019s daughter who is about to be sold into slavery when she is rescued by the princess. Notions of honour break down quickly when it is obvious that what everyone is really searching for is the Akizuki gold, and therefore many of the nobles are no better than Tahei and Mataschichi, who if anything, retain at least their knockabout honesty. <\/p>\n

For the first time Kurosawa films in the Tohoscope widescreen format, and he uses it to great effect, showing a precarious Japanese landscape full of perpendicular steepness. A slave revolt tumbles down a steep set of Odessa-like steps, and our comic duo are constantly clambering up and down the sides of the gravelly hills in their attempts to elude capture. The fortress itself is no more than a ring of steep hillocks, surrounding a small redoubt. The characters\u2019 difficulties are occasionally liberated by scenes of wonderful actions such as Mifune\u2019s duel with an old enemy and the fire festival, which turns from an obstacle to a moment of revelation. Apparently, a 1970s science fiction film was influenced by it as well, but there\u2019s plenty to enjoy without recourse to that. <\/p>\n

John Bleasdale<\/B><\/I><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Akira Kurosawa\u2019s 1958 action adventure The Hidden Fortress<\/i> belongs to a swashbuckling genre of heroic derring-do: jidaigeki<\/i>.
\nReview by John Bleasdale<\/B><\/I><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11,3],"tags":[577,557,42,578,579],"class_list":["post-2601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-check-it-out","category-dvds-and-blu-rays","tag-akira-kurosawa","tag-asian-film","tag-japanese-cinema","tag-jidaigeki","tag-sword-films"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","wps_subtitle":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/purUP-FX","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1203,"url":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2010\/06\/01\/the-hidden-fortress\/","url_meta":{"origin":2601,"position":0},"title":"The Hidden Fortress","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"June 1, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"To mark the BFI release of the Kurosawa Samurai Collection, we have a comic review of The Hidden Fortress. Comic strip review by Karen Rubins","rel":"","context":"In "Check it out"","block_context":{"text":"Check it out","link":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/check-it-out\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/hiddenfortress.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/hiddenfortress.gif?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/hiddenfortress.gif?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1947,"url":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2011\/09\/22\/harakiri\/","url_meta":{"origin":2601,"position":1},"title":"Harakiri","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"September 22, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"What Kobayashi is opposed to, and very strongly, is the whole samurai tradition, and its continuing celebration in Japanese cinema. Review by David Cairns","rel":"","context":"In "Check it out"","block_context":{"text":"Check it out","link":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/check-it-out\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/review_Harakiri-594x420.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/review_Harakiri-594x420.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/review_Harakiri-594x420.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3581,"url":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2013\/09\/13\/eyes-of-the-spider-serpents-path\/","url_meta":{"origin":2601,"position":2},"title":"Eyes of the Spider \/ Serpent’s Path","author":"Pam Jahn","date":"September 13, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Devotees of Kiyoshi Kurosawa\u2019s work will find these two films an interesting insight into his early career. Review by Jim Harper","rel":"","context":"In "Check it out"","block_context":{"text":"Check it out","link":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/check-it-out\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Eyes of the Spider1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Eyes-of-the-Spider1-594x317.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Eyes-of-the-Spider1-594x317.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Eyes-of-the-Spider1-594x317.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":36,"url":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2007\/03\/04\/samurai-7\/","url_meta":{"origin":2601,"position":3},"title":"SAMURAI 7","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"March 4, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"A futuristic retelling of Akira Kurosawa's classic Seven Samurai, Samurai 7 tells the story of the desperate villagers of Kanna who decide to hire samurai to protect them from the bandits who regularly raid their villages. Review by Virginie S\u00e9lavy","rel":"","context":"In "Cinema releases"","block_context":{"text":"Cinema releases","link":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/cinema-releases\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":507,"url":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2009\/01\/09\/tokyo-sonata\/","url_meta":{"origin":2601,"position":4},"title":"TOKYO SONATA","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"January 9, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"In Tokyo Sonata, the story of a typical Japanese family, Kurosawa is concerned with the borders between people, both on a domestic and a national scale. Review by Alexander Pashby","rel":"","context":"In "Cinema releases"","block_context":{"text":"Cinema releases","link":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/cinema-releases\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1768,"url":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2011\/06\/30\/akira\/","url_meta":{"origin":2601,"position":5},"title":"Akira","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"June 30, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"On its release in 1988, Akira proved to be a ground-breaking film as it presented concepts and imagery rarely seen on the big screen in animation, or even live action. Review by Alex Fitch","rel":"","context":"In "Check it out"","block_context":{"text":"Check it out","link":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/check-it-out\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/review_Akira-594x328.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/review_Akira-594x328.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/review_Akira-594x328.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2601"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2603,"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2601\/revisions\/2603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}