|
The Hidden Fortress - Criterion CollectionRating:
Release Date: 22 May, 2001 Retail Price: $29.95 OUR Price: $26.99 You SAVE: $2.96! Cast: Complete Cast (8 total) |
The Hidden Fortress - Criterion Collection Reviews
How Would It Look in Color?
I love black & white movies! It's a form of cinema that's becoming increasingly less appreciated as the years go by. In fact, I like black & white movies so much that there are some contemporary films that I watch on DVD by switching off my TV set's color. Yes, I'm just that nutty about monochrome!
Now, having waxed rhapsodic in various places about how one color film or another should have been made in black & white, I thought that I would give some equal time to the opposite: a monochrome film that might have been better in color. Of course, for me, they're hard to find. But I did come up with one: Akira Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress," a film that could have easily been shot in TohoColor when it was made in 1958.
I've seen most of Kurosawa's films, and of the bunch, "The Hidden Fortress" is the least serious -- and maybe because of that, one of the least satisfying. Now, substandard Kurosawa would still be better than the best of many directors that I can think of. And if "The Hidden Fortress" were directed by any other pre-New Wave Japanese filmmaker, it would probably stand out as a rollicking good yarn. But since this movie is by the same demanding director who gave the world "Rashômon" (1950), "The Seven Samurai" (1954), and "High and Low" (1963), its fluffiness is a wee bit disappointing. Indeed, the only story element that sets "The Hidden Fortress" apart from a run-of-the-mill chambara (i.e., Japanese sword-fight movie) is its celebrated focus on two comical, selfish scavengers, played by Minoru Chiaki and Kamatari Fujiwara, rather than on movie-star Toshiro Mifune's heroic incognito general.
Kurosawa is reported to have said that he wanted "The Hidden Fortress" to be a "fairy tale," to be without the penetrating social criticisms that mark so many of his other works. If this modest goal is what he set out to do, he achieved it. But I think that the black & white cinematography lends the film a weight and seriousness that it neither warrants nor needs. Color would have brought out the make-believe qualities of the story. Polychrome photography would have lushly enhanced the spectacle of the village fire festival, the movie's centerpiece extravaganza. And color would have certainly burnished the film's uncynical happy ending, an occurrence all too rare in a Kurosawa work. If nothing else, it would just be nice to have a Kurosawa-Mifune collaboration in color.
But I know why "The Hidden Fortress" is in black & white. Kurosawa didn't like the movies' various color processes back in the 1950s and early '60s, so he didn't make a color film until 1970's "Dodes'kaden." Also, "The Hidden Fortress" was the director's first feature in a widescreen format (TohoScope), and it might have been unrealistic to ask him to master two technological changes at once (though I doubt it). Besides, Kurosawa might have had a point: in black & white, "The Hidden Fortress" looks less dated than some of its chambara contemporaries do in color.
I'm not calling for "The Hidden Fortress" to be colorized (I regard colorizing movies as a kind of vandalism). And I can't think of another Kurosawa black & white that I would want to want to see in color. In fact, I tip my hat to the Japanese master for holding onto monochrome for as long as he did (I'm sure that he must have faced pressure from the studio higher-ups to shoot in color). I'm particularly jazzed that his "Yojimbo" (1961) is in black & white: monochrome helps to bring out the story's hard-edged, noirish cynicism. Also, it's worth mentioning that when Kurosawa eventually turned to color later in his career, when color reproduction on film finally met his demanding standards, he and his cinematographers employed it brilliantly.
While not premium Kurosawa, "The Hidden Fortress" is still worth checking out as a rental. Although in black & white, it's a very colorful movie.
DELIGHTFULLY ENTERTAINING CLASSIC FROM THE MASTER
If your looking for an action paced sci-fi, then you will be disappointed. This is a classic Kurosawa black-and-white drama, comedy,and action-adventure all in one. I am a great fan of Kurosawa, and although I do not see the parallels that many of the critics do when comparing this movie with "Star Wars" I do understand that George Lucas was influenced greatly by this film when doing his movie. Having said that, you will enjoy this wonderful 1958 Kurosawa classic--in anamorphic screen--to boot. And once again we are graced with the presence of the late, great, Toshiro Mifune, who does his usual superb acting with Kurosawa behind the lens.
More Customer Reviews (29 total)
You like The Hidden Fortress - Criterion Collection?
|
© 2004, 2005, 2006 DVD Booty | Don't Plunder Our Cache of Booty, Matey!
Hosting made possible by donations from American Debt Girl, About Debt Elimination, and cash loans
