The Searchers

Blu-Ray Review: Criterion Edition of Akira Kurosawa’s Legendary ‘Kagemusha’

BrianTT — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 07:43:10 -0600

CHICAGO – Now that he is widely recognized as one of the best filmmakers of all time, it’s almost hard to believe that there was a period in the career of Akira Kurosawa when he couldn’t get financing to make a film. Kurosawa went through a very dark time in the ’70s, punctuated by his disastrous experience with “Tora! Tora! Tora!,” and needed the weight of Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas to help with his comeback, “Kagemusha,” now available in a beautiful Criterion Collection Blu-Ray release.

Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0

I adore stories like the one behind the making of “Kagemusha” because they reflect the ripple throughout the ages that comes with amazing creativity. In the excellent special feature, “Lucas, Coppola, and Kurosawa,” the interviews draw a definitive line from John Ford (whose “The Searchers” influenced Kurosawa) to Kurosawa’s work to “The Godfather” to “Star Wars” to “Kagemusha,” which itself inspired countless filmmakers. The magic of movies is contagious.

Kagemusha was released on Blu-Ray on August 18th, 2009.
Photo credit: Courtesy of the Criterion Collection

After the commercial failure of “Dodes’ka-den” and the irascible reputation that followed him after “Red Beard,” Kurosawa started to struggle with financial support in the ’70s. When he was forced to back out of “Tora! Tora! Tora!” due to creative differences, he carried with him a reputation that made funding difficult. He reportedly attempted suicide in 1971, had an awful experience on “Dersu Uzala,” and was reduced to going back to one of his loves, painting. The art that came out of that period would eventually turn into “Kagemusha”.

Kagemusha was released on Blu-Ray on August 18th, 2009.
Photo credit: Courtesy of the Criterion Collection

Of course, as impossible as he reportedly was to work with, Kurosawa was still a master. Without even asking to see a script, George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola, two of the men most inspired by Kurosawa’s work, put their financial weight behind whatever he wanted to do next. They recognized that Kurosawa was a filmmaker who never should have been denied funding just on the chance that he might produce another “Seven Samurai,” “Yojimbo,” or “Rashomon”.

What he did produce was the introduction to the final chapter of his career, one marked more by bright colors and epic storytelling. “Kagemusha” finds its creator returning to the samurai story but with a much more cynical, dark worldview. It’s the anti-hero story, taking the least “samurai-esque” character and turning him into the hero.

A warlord dies and a peasant thief is called upon to impersonate the leader to keep warring factions from knowing of the kingdom’s weakness. The new leader is haunted by the spirit of the old one and Kurosawa continues to play with a regular theme of his career - what is real and what is illusion.

The plot of “Kagemusha” is interesting but it’s primarily a stunning visual experience. There are shots in “Kagemusha” that stand among the best of the ’80s. In particular, a shot of men marching through fog as orange light and shadows play in the background (at around the 20-minute mark) is one of my favorite shots of all time.

Kagemusha was released on Blu-Ray on August 18th, 2009.
Photo credit: Courtesy of the Criterion Collection

“Kagemusha” doesn’t just resemble a cinematic painting. It was designed as a moving piece of art. The 44-minute video piece reconstructing “Kagemusha” through Kurosawa’s paintings and sketches called “Image: Kurosawa’s Continuity” shows an artist who did a lot more than just storyboard. An included booklet of essays and artwork that inspired the film would be enough of a collector’s item for Kurosawa fans to justify a purchase of the entire release.

The film itself has been restored with a high-definition digital transfer and a DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0 soundtrack. The image looks appropriately transferred. I was concerned it would be overly polished, taking away a lot of the original appeal of the film by making it look too plastic in HD. That has not happened.

Unmentioned special features include a commentary by Kurosawa scholar Stephen Prince, a 41-minute documentary on the making of the film, Suntory Whiskey commercials made on the set of “Kagemusha,” a gallery of storyboards painted by Kurosawa and images of their realization on-screen, and theatrical trailers and teasers.

Very few filmmakers are as essential to a viewer’s understanding of the history of the medium as Akira Kurosawa. There are millions of people out there who love “Star Wars” and “The Godfather”. Find one who hasn’t even heard of Kurosawa and tell them the story of how their favorite filmmakers were essential in the comeback of a master. Pass the creative spark along.

‘Kagemusha’ is released by The Criterion Collection and stars Tatsuya Nakadai, Tsutomu Yamazaki, and Kenichi Hagiwara. It was written by Akira Kurosawa & Masato Ide and directed by Kurosawa. The Blu-Ray was released on August 18th, 2009. It is not rated.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Interview: Melissa Leo Channels John Wayne in Sundance Hit ‘Frozen River’

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:51:00 -0600

CHICAGO – Melissa Leo is a familiar face to admirers of the TV show “Homicide: Life on the Street”.

After playing Sgt. Kay Howard for five years on that popular series, she left the show to pursue character roles in such films as “21 Grams” and “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada”. Taking on a leading role in her latest film “Frozen River,” Leo captures the desperation and strength of a woman with everything to lose.

“Frozen River” star Melissa Leo in Chicago on July 16, 2008.
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald, HollywoodChicago.com

A scene from “Frozen River”.
Photo credit: Jory Sutton, copyright Frozen River Productions

HollywoodChicago.com recently interviewed Leo in anticipation of the film’s release. The actress candidly talked about her character’s direction and the nature of the unusual film.

“Frozen River,” which is an acclaimed Sundance Film Festival drama, refers to an upper New York state tributary that freezes so hard in the winter that vehicles are known to drive over it. Leo plays Ray Eddy: a resident of that Canadian border town whose husband has abandoned her with two children.

He also has stolen savings that would have been a down payment for a new trailer in which the family could have lived. Leo speaks about how she landed the role and how she collaborated with writer and director Courtney Hunt.

“The first thing Courtney said to me was: ‘Will you read my short?’ I happily did,” Leo said. “Then I called her and said: ‘Let’s do this.’ We shot the short. She edited it, showed it to me and said: ‘Good job.’ Then she said: ‘Would you like to do the feature?’ I didn’t even know she had a feature.”

Melissa Leo as Ray Eddy in “Frozen River”.
Photo credit: Jory Sutton, copyright Frozen River Productions

Rating: 4.0/5.0

“Courtney knew much more about the characters,” Leo said. “There were unanswered questions in the short we didn’t even know. The characters at that time were the ‘native’ and the ‘blonde’. They had no names.”

Ray Eddy became the character’s name. She lives desperately hand to mouth. With her husband gone and her savings wiped out, she decides to begin running illegal immigrants in the trunk of her car. The way to Canada without a border check is by directly driving over the frozen river.

“Courtney gave me a valuable piece of direction right before we shot the feature,” Leo said. “Watch ‘The Searchers’ (1956) and ‘Rio Grande’ (1950). Watch John Wayne. That’s probably the most consistent piece of direction throughout the rest of the filming process. It’s a little bit of the Duke.”

Eddy partners with Lila (Misty Upham): a Native American who lives on a nearby reservation.

Director Courtney Hunt on the set of “Frozen River”.
Photo credit: Jory Sutton, copyright Frozen River Productions

Charlie McDermott as TJ Eddy in “Frozen River”.
Photo credit: Jory Sutton, copyright Frozen River Productions

Lila knows the particulars of the immigrant running. She and Eddy have parallel lives with Lila having a husband who recently died and a son being raised by grandparents. Both women are looking to make a quick score and get the money they need to move on with their lives.

“This was actually a matriarchal story,” Leo said. “The natives have a lot of female tribal heads. You see the portrayal of the tribal meetings in the film to be heavily female, which is an accurate portrayal of those types of meetings.”

Leo added: “In our film, this is women doing what women do to get by especially when the men have let them down.”

The film is heavy with thematic symbolism involving race, gender and class. Leo spoke about those elements while emphasizing another aspect of the overall experience.

RELATED IMAGE GALLERY
View our full, high-resolution “Frozen River” image gallery.

RELATED READING
More film reviews from critic Patrick McDonald.

“The strength of the film is the story – a story that most people haven’t heard before,” Leo Said. “It’s a rich story because it encompasses all those themes.”

The “rich story” also has – in what Leo describes – a “satisfying” ending. She added: “The two women have learned something, have grown and are better people by the end of the film because of the journey the audience watches them go through.”

She concluded: “We are here to grow into our best selves. That is my religion. Whatever can get you there and whatever the trials, that is what betters us. That is how the story of this film is played out.”

“Frozen River” from writer and director Courtney Hunt stars Melissa Leo, Misty Upham and Michael O’Keefe opens in limited theaters on Aug. 15, 2008.

By PATRICK McDONALD
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com