The Influences of Star Wars: The Hidden Fortress

Art is rarely original. As humans we take influence from nearly everything around us and we incorporate it into our work. In film, it may be a camera movement, a sound bite, or even a character itself. But I argue it’s often unintentional, something you do out of habit more than anything else. If it worked in another movie it must work here. You internalize what things work and what things don’t, you replicate visuals and sounds that you believe work. However, some films build their entire foundation on older movies. This often can be lazy, but I find good filmmakers use it as a means to either reframe some styles (such as Tarantino’s use of genres) or to make their movies timeless. For the timeless example, a film uses visuals and narrative structure to create something that will always seem relevant because it uses everything that’s already worked before. It uses all the best stuff and puts it in one spot for the viewer’s consumption, it’s like visual junk food. Star Wars: A New Hope is perhaps the most famous example of this style of filmmaking. It frames its story with the hero’s journey and it sources every scene or visual from a different source. So what are these films that left such an impression on a young George Lucas? Well today we’ll start with the most significant film, Akira Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress.

Akira Kurosawa is hands down the greatest filmmaker to ever live in my own opinion. To paraphrase Robert Altman: Some filmmakers are lucky to have a few classics, Kurosawa crafted 8 masterpieces at least. Out of those masterpieces, the Hidden Fortress is arguably the weakest, though arguably the most entertaining. What’s important about this film in relation to Star Wars is the central story. The story begins from the point of view of the two least important characters, two peasants (R2D2 and C-3PO). They are caught in the middle of a war between two warring Japanese clans (this in turns becomes the Empire vs The Rebels) and they come across a gold bar (not quite a MacGuffin as the Death Star plans, but it is the closest we get to something that correlates). This gets them noticed by a General (Obi-wan Kenobi), who guides a princess (read as Princess Leia) to a territory where she will be safe. They are from the loosing side of the war and the gold belongs to them, so they bring the two peasants along with them. Their goal: make it to an area where the princess can use the gold to reestablish her clan’s dominance.

So plot wise it isn’t a hero’s journey (the film doesn’t have a Luke equivalent), but a lot of the puzzle pieces that lead to Star Wars are clear. This was one of the first major films to start from the point of view from the least important characters, it gives the world a sense of importance because everything seems bigger than these two peasants. So when they’re invited to join in on the big journey, it feels like you the audience are entering a great adventure. The General, portrayed by Toshiro Mifune (my favorite actor to ever live I also must add, seriously watch any of his movies), set the standard for what Star Wars would model its Jedi after (as well as medivel knights among other things…there is a lot of sources of everything in these movies). The lightsaber duel from a New Hope is pretty much taken directly from the General’s big showdown towards the end of the film. Lightsabers themselves arguably are compared more to Samurai katanas than any other sword. The General’s ideals and conviction also in turn inspire much of the Jedi way of life, emphasizing loyalty over all else. It isn’t any shock then that Mifune was offered the role of Obi-wan Kenobi. When he turned it down, he was offered Darth Vader (he felt at the time the low budget looking sci-fi yarn would cheapen the image of samurai…which is odd considering the checkered history of them). That helmet Vader wears is ripped directly from the look of samurai helmets. Also though it was a common feature in even older Hollywood serials which Lucas was inspired by, The Hidden Fortress makes great use of the horizontal wipe transition Star Wars would become known for.

A lot of the foundation for Star Wars comes from this film, and as an introduction to foreign films I think it’s a good watch for American audiences. While it doesn’t reach the heights of Seven Samurai or Rashomon, it’s certainly entertaining and breezy. A good watch and a classic popcorn flick.

Though curiously, Akira Kurosawa himself was greatly inspired by John Ford (whom also inspired Lucas and Steven Spielberg). So Star Wars takes inspiration from a Japanese movie (or appropriates, but some of the concepts are pretty universal and are sourced from all over so that’s an iffy conclusion) which in turn took inspiration from American westerns. Ironically Kurosawa’s films were never huge in Japan, they always played better in foreign markets and his films were often criticized as being too “western” in Japan.