Ryan Monsour

RTVF 272

Film Makers Project

The Hidden Fortress

In this Kurosawa film, the director takes an unusual approach and places the focus of a fair portion of the film on characters that are not meant to be the main ones. The two peasants, Tahei and Matashichi, are placed in front of the audience to explain the story through their struggles for nearly the first quarter of the film. Through them, we experience the struggles they have and understand, to an extent, their mind set / why they act the way they do. After their, essentially, lengthy introduction we get to the actual protagonists of the film, Princess Yuki and Makabe Rokurota the former general of the Akizuki clan.

The story of the film is basically a coming of age tale for the character Princess Yuki. The plot explains that her clan, the Akizuki, has been overthrown and that she is the last surviving member of the royal family. Toshiro Mifune, plays the former general to the Akizuki clan, Makabe Rokurota, and is essentially the young (naïve) princess' bodyguard. Throughout the film Mifune's character keeps the peasants in line as best he can and manages to get them to agree to help him escort the princess to safer lands. In return the peasants, Tahei and Matashichi, will receive some of the Akizuki clan's remaining gold that they are secretly helping to transport in bundles of wood. The peasants are rarely helpful and often impede the progress of the main characters. In addition, whenever they are not blundering, the peasants usually make attempts to steal the gold, and thus not helping the princess/general achieve their mutual goal of safety. The film involves many tense setting where our protagonist are nearly captured and are forced to fight for their lives. Eventually, after several fights and close calls they are all captured by Rokurota's (the general's) rival. But after Princess Yuki express all that she has learned from her travels, especially those with the peasants, the general's rival sides with them and helps them escape to safer lands. After all is said and done, the two greedy peasants are given a full and elaborate explanation of what they were doing and why. Thus, leading not just to Princess Yuki's character to grow, but to the two peasants as well. Afterward they are given their reward, and a clear change in character and mind set can be seen in the two miscreants.

To elaborate on Princess Yuki, essentially, coming of age; there is scene early in the film stating that her sister (who was sent out as a decoy), has served her purpose. Basically stating she has been killed due to the assumption that she was Yuki. Later in the film, while Yuki and the others have been captured and are waiting for an almost certain death, she expresses all she has learned due to her sister's and the peasant's sacrifices. Kurosawa uses these explanations to express the moral message of the film. Another fantastically directed scene, was the one involving Rokurota (Mifune's) fight with his rival. While this scene was not there to express any moral meaning, the way it was choreographed, staged, and edited together spoke volumes to the directors skills in all field of film making.

In addition to being an exceptional film, “The Hidden Fortress” is very well know as being the inspiration to Episode Four of the Star Wars films. The original Star Wars film was also initially told through the misadventures of two minor characters, R2-D2 and C-3PO. While having the main characters make their appearance later in the film. Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo all fill the protagonist roles much like general Rokurota and princess Yuki. Also, just like the film Star Wars, the minor and major characters are trying to transport something precious that will lead to an empire falling or rising.

Both cases of film making are well done and serve as an important benchmark in film for their respective eras.