Retrospective Film Review

The Hidden Fortress (1958) • 65 Years Later— exhilarating and exquisite, though lacking emotional depth

Lured by gold, two greedy peasants unknowingly escort a princess and her general across enemy lines.

A vast, desolate wasteland unfolds before our eyes. Distant, towering mountains rise above a barren, scorched landscape. Two lowly peasants, dirty and bedraggled, begin to criticise the other: both reeking of death. Despite their attempts to participate in a conflict between two rival factions, the Akizuki and Yamana clans, they were mistaken for being members of the losing side. As a consequence, they were forced to bury the corpses of the Akizuki, while the Yamana watched. “You stink of dead bodies!” Tahei (Minoru Chiaki) exclaims with disdain. His friend, Matakishi (Kamatari Fujiwara), retorts, “We both stink of dead bodies! And it’s all your fault!”

This prologue of The Hidden Fortress / 隠し砦の三悪人 is reminiscent of a Shakespearean opening. Through skilful exposition, we are introduced into a world with pre-existing conflict like that of Hamlet…