STORY STUDY - CRITERION WEEK - 116. “The Hidden Fortress”

Anyone who knows anything about the inspiration of Star Wars knew this one was coming.

As I stated last week, it was a coincidence that a comic about Star Wars fell on the week of its 40th anniversary, when really I was planning on posts for this month to revolve around a central theme in relation to this week’s Criterion Week post. That theme: journeys.

Directed by Akira Kurosawa, and written by Kurosawa, Ryuzo Kikushima, Hideo Oguni, and Shinobu Hashimoto, The Hidden Fortress, tells the story of two greedy peasants who discover gold belonging to the Akizuki clan. The film takes place in 16th century Japan, where the Akizuki clan has been recently defeated by the Yamana clan. The Yamana clan now aims to hunt down the remnants of the Akizuki clan, specifically, the clan’s princess.

When the peasants find more gold, they encounter a rude, harsh man, and a young girl who they believe is mute, both of whom force themselves into the peasants’ situation. They are revealed to be General Rokurota Makabe and Princess Yuki of the Akizuki clan, though their true identities are only known to the audience.

The four take all the gold, and begin a journey that takes them away from the Yamana clan’s grasp, the general and princess hoping to use the gold to rebuild the Akizuki clan, and the peasants believing they’ll get a cut when the journey is completed.

With such a premise, you’d expect the main protagonist to be General Makabe, and he is. However, the film takes a unique approach to how the story is presented and seen; specifically the film follows (for the majority) the comic relief peasants, and how they perceive the events of their journey.

What they see feels (intentionally) reminiscent of the American Western: desert landscapes, horses, a brave fighter, and a clan filled with bad men after the heroes.

The other standout character is Princess Yuki, who is a fierce leader who regrets that people are risking their lives for her: a unique portrayal of a female character given the time period.

The highlights of the film are the prison riot scene in the beginning, the spear duel between Makabe and his rival, General Hyoe Tadokoro, and the Fire Festival where the protagonists use to blend in to avoid suspicion from the Yamada clan.

Where the film falters ultimately results in pacing. The film certainly takes its time establishing our main characters to the point where it can get kind of boring. During this time, there is absolutely no tension (i.e. being discovered), and tragic events are told to us, never seen. The actual journey through Japan doesn’t begin until the forty minute to one hour mark. However, you could compare this pacing to the classic westerns and even Kurosawa’s other samurai epic: Seven Samurai.

As I stated earlier, The Hidden Fortress was a huge inspiration for Star Wars, and based on the brief plot it does seem familiar: two unsuspecting figures carry something that might turn the tide for one side of a war, and it’s being guarded by a swordsman and a princess. Star Wars does its own thing by having a hero’s journey story arc with the inclusion of apprentice Luke.

Recently re-watching the film to prepare for writing this week’s post made me realize its early pacing problem, but I still consider it to be my favorite Akira Kurosawa film (among the few I’ve seen.) While Sanjuro is an efficiently paced samurai film with some humor, it’s not an epic. While Seven Samurai is an epic samurai film with great character and action set pieces, it’s almost four hours long. Rarely anyone has that kind of patience. The Hidden Fortress has a nice blend of the fun of the former and the epic feel of the latter with it being just over two hours. Plus, unlike the two, (which involves ronin) this film actually involves a samurai doing his duty in protecting his master.