SHOULD I READ IT? The Hidden Fortress (1958)

 

                “The Hidden Fortress” is a samurai film by Akira Kurosawa (“Seven Samurai”).  It is now famous as an inspiration for George Lucas’ “Star Wars”.  Specifically, the R2D2 and CP3O characters were based on Tahei and Matashicki.  

                Two peasant farmers, Tahei (Minoru Chiaki) and Matashicki (Kamatari Fujiwara), bet on the wrong side and now they are attempting to return home through enemy territory.  They are captured and put to work burying the dead, but they manage to escape.  The two buddies end up hooking up with a mysterious warrior and a teenage girl.  It turns out that Makabe Rokurota (Toshiro Mifune) is a general in the losing army and he is escorting Princess Yuki (Misa Uehara) and the gold necessary to revive their clan’s fortunes.  Yuki is a feisty tomboy.  Tahei and Makashicki are like squabbling ten year olds.  The quartet spend some time at a hidden fortress.  Tahei and Makashicki agree to tag along with the intention of stealing the gold.  The movie becomes a road trip as they have a series of adventures traversing hostile terrain.  The hijinks include a lengthy duel involving spears and a fire festival for spectacle.  Meanwhile, an entire army is chasing them.

                “The Hidden Fortress” is a must-see for cinephiles.  It may be a bit long, but it is giddily entertaining.  Typical of a Kurosawa film, it is noteworthy for its mesmerizing cinematography which includes lots of long shots of remarkable terrain.  The score is equally vibrant and matches the playful mood well.  The cast is great beyond the fact that it includes Mifune.  The movie came four years after “Seven Samurai”, so he was already a superstar.  In fact, he had eight movies released in 1958!  Uehara is hypnotizing as the Princess.  What a character!  She is infuriatingly hot.  Then you throw in the Japanese Laurel and Hardy.  Chiaki and Fujiwara provide the low brow slapstick and it is surprisingly funny.  It’s not all physical humor.  They get some good lines.  For instance, when they are plotting in front of the Princess (who is pretending to be mute), Tahei tells Makashicki not to worry about her overhearing because mutes cannot talk because they are deaf.  Yes, it’s that kind of humor.  There is some good action, but surprisingly for a samurai film, there are no sword fights. Go figure. 

                “The Hidden Fortress” is an outstanding movie, but it will not make my 100 Best War Movies list because it is not really a war movie.  It is more of an action film.  Or better yet, a buddy film.

 

GRADE  =  A   

DUELING MOVIES: None But the Brave vs. Hell in the Pacific

VS.



                There are two war movies that posit Americans and Japanese being thrust together on islands in the Pacific in WWII.  “None But the Brave” (1965) brings together two platoons and “Hell in the Pacific” involves two men.  Both movies focus on the clash of cultures and the difficulties of peaceful coexistence between enemies that do not understand each other.  Which is stronger:  the urge for survival or the hatred and fear of someone different than you?

                “None But the Brave” was a vanity project of Frank Sinatra.  He produced the film and it was the only movie he directed.  Thankfully, he did not write it as well.  It is set on one of the Solomon Islands.  The movie is narrated by the Japanese commander of a cut-off unit.  Kuroki (Taysuya Yamihashi) is a warrior/pacifist who is humane, but has a martinet second in command (representing all the other Japanese officers in WWII films).  They are building a boat to get off the island when an American unit arrives via a shot down C-47 (in a painfully poor special effect).  The Americans are heterogeneously clichéd.  The Air Force Capt. Bourke (Clint Walker) takes command due to rank.  The Marine Lt. Blair (Tommy Sands) is green, but gung-ho.  There is a cigar-chomping, jerk of a sergeant (Brad Dexter).  Sinatra plays the boozing, wise-cracking Chief Pharmacist Mate. 

                The movie revolves around two sets of conflicts.  The conflict between the two forces and disagreements between the commanders and their subordinates.    The conflict within the units is basically because Bourke and Kuroki want to avoid bloodshed and their seconds want to carry on the war.  The hot heads win out so we can have some action.   The boat gets blown up, forcing them to realize they are all stuck.  There are mutual acts of humaneness like Sinatra amputating the leg of a wounded Japanese.  Later, Kuroki saves the LTs life.  A storm forces them to work together to save the well.  Hey, this just might work…  Unfortunately, when an American rescue ship looms on the horizon, the Japanese ambush the evacuating Americans even though they had promised not to reveal the presence of the Japanese on the island .  This leads to the climatic fire-fight which results in the film's “nobody ever wins” conclusion.

                “Hell in the Pacific” was directed by John Boorman and was released three years later.  Toshiro Mifune is stranded alone on an island (the movie was filmed on one of the Palau Islands) when Lee Marvin crash lands.  Their hatred and distrust are palpable from the beginning.  There are a series of back and forth incidents involving fresh water and fish.  They are not willing to share and would rather destroy what the other has.  Each has the opportunity to kill the other, but backs off.  Eventually, they agree to coexist, but still clearly hate each other.  They build a raft, but disagree over construction.  Language is a barrier.  They leave and manage to overcome the rough surf.  Even through a montage of laying around on the raft, they still have little affection for each other.  They arrive at a new island and find a deserted Japanese camp.  Finally some camaraderie develops over the food and sake, but it is short-lived as each is reminded of the cultural gulf between them.

                Besides the obvious similarities in themes, the movies share the emphasis on the language barrier.  Both eschew subtitles for the Japanese to give the audience a feel for the confusion and misunderstandings of the two sides.  This is effective, but especially in the case of “None”, it can be more confusing than effective.  “None” is more interested in examining the differences in command and warrior ethos, whereas “Hell” is more personal.  Mifune and Marvin do not so much represent their nation’s attitudes as they represent two nut cases thrust together.  Mifune could just as easily have been a cantankerous German.

                “None” may have a better template, but it is the inferior film.  It is poorly acted with absolutely horrendous dialogue.     At one point, Bourke tells Kuroki “Aw shove it, and don’t forget to duck”.  WTF  Does this make sense to anyone?  The soldier talk is laughable (at least we don’t have to understand what the Japanese are saying).  The narration is sappy with ridiculous emphasis on pronunciation of the Rs and Ls.  It is also riven with clichés.  For example, the green, gung-ho lieutenant who gets his battle, but regrets it.  Sinatra hams it up, but surprisingly lets Walker lead.  The movie does have a good action scene in the battle over the boat and the portrayal of the Japanese enlisted is sympathetic.

                “Hell” is better, but could have been a hell of a lot better.  It is thought-provoking and well-acted (of course with Mifune and Marvin), but unrealistic.  For example, two guys in such terrible shape could not have survived the raft adventure.  Some of the vignettes are silly.  Marvin throws bullets into Mifune’s fire and they go off like a machine gun.  Later, he pees on the Japanese.  Some of the interactions are a bit slap-stick.  The cinematography is good, but the score is bizarre.  It does avoid clichés as both of the men are dislikable and borderline insane.  You can’t root for either or both.  The ambiguous ending is off-putting, but appropriate.

                Both movies have the same pious anti-war message.  Each seduces us with the idea that enemies can coexist and learn to respect each other, but then pulls out the rug to hammer its “war is uncivilized” conclusion.  The duel is between the ridiculous and the unrealistic.  Go with the unrealistic because it has two great actors chewing the scenery instead of a bunch of bad actors playing army men.

None But the Brave = D-

Hell in the Pacific = C

 

 

CLASSIC or ANTIQUE? Throne of Blood

                “Throne of Blood” was released in 1957 in black and white.  It is the retelling of MacBeth by acclaimed Japanese director Akira Kurosawa.  It was originally entitled “Spider Web Castle”.  (“Oh what a tangled web we weave…”)  The film opens with a foggy view of the destroyed castle, but when the fog lifts the castle is intact – what a nifty way to flash back!  Two generals named Washizu (Toshiro Mifune) and Miki have just defeated an invasion.  They get lost in “Spider’s Web Forest”, naturally.  They encounter an evil spirit which predicts that Washizu will become ruler and pass the throne on to Miki’s son. After an extended silly period of riding back and forth, they return to Lord Tzusuki castle and are shocked to be promoted just as the spirit said.

Asaji

                Washizu’s wife Asaji (Isuzu Yamada) is a creepy schemer.  She encourages Washizu to preemptively kill Tzusuki before he finds out about the prophecy (from Miki).  Guess who’s coming to dinner?  The camera stays on Asaji as Washizu goes off to do the deed.  When he returns with a bloody spear, she puts it with the guards who she had slipped a mickey to in order to shift the blame.  Next up her big sleeved kimono is to remove Miki and his son.  She lies and tells Washizu that she is pregnant.  This unhinges Washizu who hosts a banquet for Miki where he proceeds to hallucinate the appearance of Miki’s ghost and then proceeds to try to kill it.  Could he look more guilty?

Washizu

                The chickens come home to roost as Washizu’s enemies approach his castle.  Washizu visits the spirit to get a prophecy update and is assured that he cannot be defeated unless the trees of the forest attack him.  Washizu boosts the morale of his men with this guarantee of victory.  He returns home to find Asaji feverishly trying to wash bloodstains off her hands.  Oh. well, at least there is no chance of trees attacking.  Oops!  Here comes the forest.  (Actually the enemy has cut down trees and is using them for cover.)  This is the last straw for Washizu’s fed-up garrison.  They pelt him with a barrage of arrows until one goes through his neck and he dies looking like a pin cushion.

                The movie is bizarrely interesting.  It bears the marks of Kurosawa’s genius and attention to detail.  He filmed much of it on the slopes of Mount Fuji.  It is a very foggy movie.  There are a lot of shots through the branches of trees which I am sure has some point to it because the cinematography has been lauded.  Most impressively, the arrows fired at (but not hitting) Mifune are actual arrows fired by archers .  Mifune’s movements were choreographed and he waved his arms to show the archers which direction he was heading in next.  This death scene is one of the most remarkable in movie history.

                The acting is top notch, especially Mifune and Yamada.  The plot is Shakepearean with a Japanese twist. One twist is the spare dialogue.  Kurosawa plants the MacBeth plot in Fifteenth Century Japan during the period called Sengoku Jidai (“The Age of the Country at War”).  This era of political chaos featured wars between rival clans marked by treachery and assassinations.  He also blends in elements of Noh Theater like the flutish music, bare sets, and the formalized performances.  It is a fascinating film, but not really a war movie.  Classic or antique?  Definitely a classic.

GRADE =  B

RANKING OF KUROSAWA WAR MOVIES:

1.   Seven Samurai
2.   Yojimbo
3.   Ran
4.  Throne of Blood
5.   Kagemusha

the trailer

riding in the forest

SHOULD I READ IT? Seven Samurai

           “Seven Samurai” is probably the most famous Japanese movie.  It was directed by the acclaimed Akiro Kurosawa and released in 1954.  It was the most expensive Japanese movie up to that time.  Although Kurosawa was influenced by Westerns like those of John Ford, “Seven Samurai” is more influencer than influenced.  Besides the obvious influence on the remake “Magnificent Seven”, it established several conventions that became common, especially in American Westerns.  One of these is introducing the main character in an early scene involving an action that will be unrelated to the main activity dominating the rest of the plot.  Think “Magnificent Seven’s"  taking the body to the graveyard scene.  Second, the reluctant heroes helping people they at first cannot relate to.  Third, one of the heroes falls in love with a local girl.  Lastly, the wimpy villagers eventually learn to stand up for themselves.  Most important, “Seven Samurai” is probably the first significant movie to have a group of skilled killers recruited for a suicide mission as in “Guns of Navarone” and “The Dirty Dozen”.

                The movie is set in "Warring States" period of Japan.  Because of a lack of central government and constant civil wars, life is very rough for the lower class.    “Land taxes, forced labor, war, drought… the gods want us farmers dead!”  To make matters worse,  bandits are threatening a village.  They will be coming back after the harvest. The village elder convinces the peasants to defend their property and women by hiring some “hungry samurai”.  Samurai were the knights of medieval Japan.  The hungry ones are called “ronin”.  They are unemployed because their lords are dead or out of business.  Some retained the bushido code of the warrior similar to the code of chivalry, others became bandits.

                Some villagers go to town to find ronin who are willing to take on 40 bandits in exchange for a handful of rice per day.  Most laugh at them, but they convince a veteran named Kambei to take up their cause.  We first meet him cutting off his topknot (a symbol of samurai status) and balding himself to disguise himself as a monk so he can rescue a child and kill a child abductor.  Here are the other six:

Gorobei – second in command; smart and likable; expert archer

Shichiroji – old friend of Kambei

Heihachi -  wood chopper, not a skilled swordsman; charming

Kyuzo -  very skilled swordsman; laconic loner

Katsushiro -  young samurai wannabe who wants to be a disciple of Kambei

Kikuchiyo (Toshiro Mifune) – crazy blowhard who insists on coming along

                When they arrive, the timid villagers are hiding, but when Kikuchiyo sounds the alarm they come swarming out begging for protection from the bandits.  Kikuchiyo lays into them for their hypocrisy and gains the respect of the others.  Later, Kikuchiyo takes up for the peasants (he was one himself) when they find out the villagers had killed wandering samurai in the past.  He shames the others by pointing out the buffeting common for peasants.

                The samurai supervise construction of defenses and training of the peasants to help in the defense  (another influential motif).  A romance develops between Katsushiro and Shino.  Her father is anti-samurai, naturally.  Discovery of the affair results in use of the Japanese word for “slut”.  It’s time for action after the leisurely build-up and character development.  First there is the raid on the bandit camp to cut down the odds.  This results in the first subtraction from the seven.

                Soon after, the bandits make their first attempt on the village.  Although they have a technology advantage with their three muskets (all the samurai deaths will be by gunfire), the defenses hold and the strategy of luring bandits to their deaths is effective.  During the night, Kyuzo sneaks off, kills two, returns with a musket and promptly falls asleep.  This dude is one badass.

                In the main attack, the strategy is to let in one bandit at a time and allow the peasants to finish them with spears.  Even the women participate.  Ever the glory-hound, Kikuchiyo infiltrates the bandit camp and returns with a second musket.  While he is gone some of the bandits get through his position resulting in a crisis.  Kambei scolds him:  “There’s nothing heroic about selfish grabbing of glory.”

Kikuchiyo and Kyuzo 

                Spoiler Alert:  For the final assault, it is decided to let all the remaining bandits in together.  In a driving rainstorm, there is lots of riding back and forth.  Kambei shoots several with a bow, but the bandit leader hides in a hut and proceeds to kill numbers three and four before being stabbed to death.  As usual in cinema, the death of the leading villain brings the fighting to a close.  The samurai have won the battle, but the peasants are the beneficiaries.  Kambei:  “The victory belongs to the peasants, not to us.”  We leave the village with the peasants in the fields – the men singing, the women planting.

                “Seven Samurai” is justifiably famous.  It is a marvel of film-making.  The cinematography is outstanding with Kurosawa choreographing multiple cameras.  We also see one of the first uses of slow motion violence.  The sound effects are noteworthy, especially the thundering hooves of horses.  The music fits the scenes, but more importantly there are different themes for the various characters and for the peasants and the bandits.  The acting is fine and each of the seven has a distinct personality.  You care about them.   

                The movie is not meant to be historical, but it is an accurate depiction of the turmoil of the Warring States period of Japanese history.  The year is 1587 which is in the middle of that long stretch.  There were many unemployed samurai roaming around and the peasantry did suffer greatly from the lack of law and order.  The rigid caste structure remained which is evident in the gulf between the samurai and the villagers.  It is an uneasy alliance.  Ironically, the movie does not make it clear that the bandits would have most likely been unemployed samurai as well.  Each of the main characters (with the exception of Kikuchiyo – Kurosawa created him for comic relief and told Mifune to run with it) was based on an actual person.

                The movie fits well into the war movie genre partly because of the combat, but also because it is strong on strategy and tactics.  The movie goes out of its way to clearly outline the samurais’ plans.  It is a good study in leadership.  Kambei is a good role model.  He is stoical in the face of crises.  He keeps morale up with humorous jibes.  He rubs his head when pondering problems (a trait Lucas gave Yoda in homage).

                The movie is not perfect.  It is very long (the original cut was 3 hours, 27 minutes).  There is a lot of frenetic running around.  The enemy are not personified.  We know nothing about their leader, for instance.  Some of the acting is a bit hammy, especially by Mifune.  The running and the acting are pretty typical of old Japanese movies.  The love story is left unresolved.  These weaknesses are some of the reasons why I feel “The Magnificent Seven” is a superior movie.

                Should you read it?  If you are ever going to watch a Japanese movie, this should be your first.  It is a must-see for all fans of cinema.

Grade =  B+

POSTER -  Cool design, but it makes it look like the movie is "One Samurai".  The prominent display of Shino greatly exaggerates  her role.  It appears Japanese poster makers are under the same pressure to bring females into the theater as American artists are.  B

TRAILER -  Introduces the scenario and the characters well.  Gives away that 4 of the 7 will die.  Promotes Mifune.  Highlights the romance.  Good job covering all the bases.  A

SHOULD YOU READ IT? "YOJIMBO"

   

 
      This is part of my series of possible Top 100 movies that appear in my "Video Hound's War Movies" guidebook that received 4 "bones".  Is it worthy of viewing even though it has subtitles?
      The director is the acclaimed Akiro Kurosawa, who also made "Seven Samurai".  It is based on two stories by Dashiell Hammett.  Although not a true story, it is set in 1860 during the period after the fall of the Tokugawa Dynasty in Japan.  The samurai were unemployed now that their royal employers were no longer in power.  Many became "ronin" which were warriors who wandered around selling their services. "Yojimbo" means "bodyguard".
      The movie opens with a ronin named Sanjuro (meaning "Mulberry Bush") tossing a stick in the air and then heading in the direction that it points to.  He enters a town which is seemingly deserted.  He realizes this is his kind of place when a dog walks by with a severed hand in its mouth!
      The town is divided between two gangs of "gamblers" (subtitle translation error?) which are led by loathsome brothers.  Sanjuro befriends an innkeeper and decides to play the two sides against each other.  He proves his prowess by quickly dispatching three villains.  He is good.  The film moves back and forth as he schemes with each faction.  The dynamics change when the son of one of the gambler-leaders returns to town sporting a revolver.  He is a psycho named Unosoke.  The firearm symbolizes the omenous future for the sword-wielding samurai.
      Sanjuro gets captured and tortured after aiding a woman who was a sex slave to Unosoke.  He kills six guards in a bloodless, but violent scene and reunites her with her family.  It seems Sanjuro has a heart of gold and is one tough dude.  He survives the torturing and of course gets his revenge.
     It was remade as "A Fistful of Dollars" and if you have seen that Clint Eastwood movie, you definitely should see "Yojimbo".  It is fascinating to see the parallels - especially the final showdown.  I kept trying to see if Sanjuro had a iron plate under his kimono.  I have to admit that I prefer Leone's movie.  And by the way, "Yojimbo" is much more in the western genre than the war movie genre (mysterious stranger comes to town, dusty streets, townspeople hiding indoors, showdowns, etc.) .  For this reason, I will not be considering it for entry into my Top 100.
     I recommend this movie.  Sanjuro is one cool dude.  Toshiro Mifune (one of my favorites) does a great job as the anti-hero.  Kurosawa is his usual brilliant self.  Lots of stationary, wide screen shots.  Interesting characters, if a bit clownish.  The humor is cartoonish and a little out of place.  It is a good history lesson about a Japan in transition and a warior class growing obsolete.