Considering the scope and scale of his films, it’s a little
surprising that Akira Kurosawa didn’t explore widescreen—oops, I mean “Toho Scope”—until 1958’s The Hidden Fortress, a film that often fills the frame with vast,
vacant vistas of sand and rock. That just makes us concentrate all the more on
the four characters who are Kurosawa’s real interests. From the bottom of the
class system are Tahei and Mataschichi (Minori Chiaki and Kamatari Fujiwara), a
couple of greedy, endlessly scheming, and totally inept peasants. They want to
score big by capturing the missing Princess Yuki Akizuki (Misa Uehara) and
serving her up to the enemy that put a price on her head. Tahei and Mataschichi
don’t realize she’s already in their company, masquerading as a mute girl under
the watch of stern General RokurÅta (the ever awesome Toshiro Mifune). As the
quartet traverse inhospitable landscapes and foes, there is much action and
more comedic hijinks than you’ll find in any other Kurosawa picture, thanks to Chiaki
and Fujiwara’s cartoonish capering. But this is still a Kurosawa movie and
darkness pervades.
