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Kagemusha (1980)
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Overview
User Rating:
Your Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
6 October 1980 (USA)
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Plot:
When a powerful warlord in medieval Japan dies, a poor thief recruited to impersonate him finds difficulty...
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Awards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars.
Another 19 wins
&
3 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(19 articles)
Ak 100: The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail
(From GreenCine Daily. 8 December 2009, 10:12 AM, PST)
This Week On DVD and Blu-ray: December 8, 2009
(From Rope Of Silicon. 8 December 2009, 1:20 AM, PST)
(From GreenCine Daily. 8 December 2009, 10:12 AM, PST)
This Week On DVD and Blu-ray: December 8, 2009
(From Rope Of Silicon. 8 December 2009, 1:20 AM, PST)
User Reviews:
My God, Look at Those Colors!
more (68 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Tatsuya Nakadai | ... | Shingen Takeda / Kagemusha | |
| Tsutomu Yamazaki | ... | Nobukado Takeda | |
| Kenichi Hagiwara | ... | Katsuyori Takeda | |
| Jinpachi Nezu | ... | Sohachiro Tsuchiya | |
| Hideji Ôtaki | ... | Masakage Yamagata | |
| Daisuke Ryû | ... | Nobunaga Oda | |
| Masayuki Yui | ... | Ieyasu Tokugawa | |
| Kaori Momoi | ... | Otsuyanokata | |
| Mitsuko Baisho | ... | Oyunokata | |
| Hideo Murota | ... | Nobufusa Baba | |
| Takayuki Shiho | ... | Masatoyo Naito | |
| Kôji Shimizu | ... | Katsusuke Atobe | |
| Noboru Shimizu | ... | Masatane Hara | |
| Sen Yamamoto | ... | Nobushige Oyamada | |
| Shuhei Sugimori | ... | Masanobu Kosaka |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Kagemusha (The Shadow Warrior)
Kagemusha the Shadow Warrior
Shadow Warrior
The Double
Kagemusha (Denmark) [da]
Kagemusha - A Sombra do Guerreiro (Portugal) [pt]
Kagemusha - Der Schatten des Kriegers (West Germany) [de]
Kagemusha - Director's Cut (France) (director's cut) [fr]
Kagemusha - l'ombra del guerriero (Italy) [it]
Kagemusha - spökgeneralen (Sweden) [sv]
Kagemusha - varjokenraali (Finland) [fi]
Kagemusha, a Sombra de um Samurai (Brazil) [pt]
Kagemusha, l'ombre du guerrier (France) [fr]
Kagemusha, la sombra del guerrero (Spain) [es]
Kagemusha, o iskios tou polemisti (Greece) [el]
Kagemusha, sjena jena ratnika (Yugoslavia: Serbian title) [sr]
Sobowtór (Poland) [pl]
more
Kagemusha the Shadow Warrior
Shadow Warrior
The Double
Kagemusha (Denmark) [da]
Kagemusha - A Sombra do Guerreiro (Portugal) [pt]
Kagemusha - Der Schatten des Kriegers (West Germany) [de]
Kagemusha - Director's Cut (France) (director's cut) [fr]
Kagemusha - l'ombra del guerriero (Italy) [it]
Kagemusha - spökgeneralen (Sweden) [sv]
Kagemusha - varjokenraali (Finland) [fi]
Kagemusha, a Sombra de um Samurai (Brazil) [pt]
Kagemusha, l'ombre du guerrier (France) [fr]
Kagemusha, la sombra del guerrero (Spain) [es]
Kagemusha, o iskios tou polemisti (Greece) [el]
Kagemusha, sjena jena ratnika (Yugoslavia: Serbian title) [sr]
Sobowtór (Poland) [pl]
more
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
180 min | Argentina:162 min | USA:162 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Eastmancolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Iceland:12 |
South Korea:12 (1998) |
Portugal:M/12 |
Australia:PG |
Sweden:15 |
Argentina:13 |
Chile:14 |
Finland:K-12 |
UK:PG |
USA:PG |
West Germany:12 |
Singapore:PG
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Shintarô Katsu was originally slated to play the lead role but he was dismissed by Kurasawa after Katsu came to a rehearsal with a video camera and said he wanted to document the experience for an acting class he was teaching.
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Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: Obvious bald caps on nearly every adult male character in the film.
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Quotes:
Shingen Takeda:
I am wicked, as you believe. I am a scoundrel. I banished my father and I killed my own son. I will do anything to rule this country. War is everywhere. Unless somebody unifies the nation and reigns over us, we will see more rivers of blood and more mountains of the dead.
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FAQ
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Akira Kurosawa is certainly one of the most important directors who ever lived. Most of his most famous films were made in the 50s and 60s. Rashomon, Ikiru, Yojimbo, and The Seven Samurai may be the four most famous films he made, and they were all in black and white. That format was wonderful. His films had a definitive look in that era.
I would like to suggest, though, that he was the single best director of the color image who has existed thus far (whose work I am familiar with). I have only seen two of his color films (I don't even know how many he made), this film and Ran, but his sense of color in these two films is exquisite. I had to pause it several times during Kagemusha just to stare at the beautiful composition.
I personally think that Kurosawa's talents rested mainly in the technical aspects of his films rather than the content (and I'm sure many people would argue against me here). So as for the film itself, I'd give it a 9/10 for two reasons. I was only emotionally involved during small sections of the film (the end was particularly powerful), and the story was somewhat difficult to follow (I was confused during Yojimbo and The Seven Samurai, too). I prefer Ran to this film (and to all the other films of his I've seen, which include Rashomon, The Seven Samurai, and Yojimbo). Still, Kagemusha is very good.