Kagemusha

Kagemusha (1980) is set in sixteenth century Japan. A powerful warlord dies and his clan has to hide it, so a thief who resembles him takes his place. He plays the part at first, then the part begins to change him, and the clan forgets which is which. Its production fell in Kurosawa's hardest years. He had been unable to raise money in Japan for a long time, and during the years he could not work he painted his scenes; Kagemusha's storyboards came out of those paintings. When Toho could not complete the budget, America stepped in. George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola became executive producers on the international version, and in return 20th Century-Fox took international distribution. Kurosawa also appeared in Suntory whisky commercials with Coppola to raise money. Shintaro Katsu had been cast in the lead. That ended when he arrived on set with his own camera crew to record Kurosawa's working methods; whether he was dismissed or left is unclear. Tatsuya Nakadai replaced him and played both the warlord and the double. It shared the Palme d'Or at Cannes with All That Jazz. It was the highest grossing Japanese film domestically in 1980 and took around 33.4 million dollars worldwide. It runs 180 minutes. Good for: Kurosawa, historical film at scale, and the use of colour. Less good for: three hours at a deliberately heavy pace. The battle comes at the end and the fighting itself is not shown; the film watches the outcome from a distance. The clan politics are dense and the names are hard to hold.