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The Hidden Fortress: The Criterion Collection
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Criterion Collection Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (1st April 2014). |
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The Film
 Akira Kurosawa has not only had a long career, created many classic, memorable and important films but has been the source of inspiration for many filmmakers, George Lucas included. If you're watching "The Hidden Fortress" for the first time and it seems familiar, that's because a lot of its premise and even its characters inspired "Star Wars: A New Hope" (1977). "The Hidden Fortress" featured some unique narrative tools not usually employed in major films of its era, it was told from the perspective of its lowliest characters, it was the first of Kurosawa's films shot in a widescreen ratio and also featured wipes as a transitional tool. Elements also employed by Lucas. As copied as the film is in more modern and mainstream films, this one still stands out as a terrific adventure that feels timeless, despite its samurai setting. "The Hidden Fortress" tells the story of Tahei (Minoru Chiaki) and Matashichi (Kamatari Fujiwara), two lowly and greedy peasants. The two are attempting to return home after a failed attempt to profit from warring clans. On their way they encounter General Rokurota Makabe (Toshirô Mifune) and a Princess, Yuki (Misa Uehara) hiding in a mountain fortress after suffering a savage defeat in battle. The General and Princess need to be escorted through enemy territory with their large supply of gold and avoid capture to return to their clan in order to rebuild. Tahei and Matachichi are recruited to guide them to safety on the promise of being rewarded with gold. "The Hidden Fortress" is nothing like other Japanese films from the 50's, while many filmmakers were making serious dramas, tragic tomes led the pack in terms of content, Kurosawa included, whose previous two films "The Lower Depths" (1957) and "Throne of Blood" (1957) are fundamentally different films in terms of style and tone. The shift in tone with "The Hidden Fortress" was a deliberate choice by the director, who was distraught after the lack of success of these two films at the box office. His aim was to make a film with a fresh new look (utilizing a widescreen ratio for the first time) and a tone that can only be described as an adventure filled entertainment spectacle. It's littered with fun moments, that all comes down to the chemistry of its two bumbling leads. Minoru Chiaki and Kamatari Fujiwara make such a loveable bumbling duo (and the inspiration for C-3PO and R2-D2), guide us through this rousing tale, Chiaki made a career as a character actor that's able to deliver both comic performances and known to play serious parts. Matched with frequent Kurosawa collaborator Fujiwara (who was also in "Ikiru" (1952), "Seven Samurai" (1954), "The Lower Depths" (1957), "The Bad Sleep Well" (1960), "Yojimbo" (1961), "Sanjuro" (1962), "High and Low" (1963), "Red Beard" (1965), "Kagemusha" (1980)) the two deliver memorable turns in their roles that help make this film such a joy to watch. Another Kurosawa regular makes a welcomed addition to the cast, Toshirô Mifune, always dependable - delivered a terrific and stoic performance as expected. Filling out the cast is the beautiful Misa Uehara, she's a breath of fresh air (especially in a film of this era, and most especially the place of women in Japanese society) to see a female character not be the atypical cardboard cut-out of what a woman should be instead she plays the role not as a damsel in distress but as a strong woman (easy to also see some similarities to Princess Leia). This is the first film in which the director shot in widescreen, the cinematography by Kazuo Yamasaki is incredible for its age and shot using a technique called "Toho Scope", which was their studio's version of the American anamorphic widescreen Cinema Scope. While American studios were making films in the wider ratio earlier in the fifties, the Japanese would eventually leap ahead of the pack in terms of storytelling, pace, editing and photography. "The Hidden Fortress" is a perfect example of that, for a 139 minute film it moves at a quick pace and ensures that the story keeps moving. Wipes help transition the film from one scene to the next (another technique borrowed by Lucas). From a technical stand point, this film features a lot of filmmaking innovations. If anything this film should have been nominated for a cinematography and editing Oscar (sadly it received none, not even for Best Foreign Language Film). I've seen this film numerous times, and after each viewing I grow to love it even more. It's really hard to find any fault in this film, "The Hidden Fortress" is a cinematic gem, Kurosawa is a legend, this film marks one of his finest and is considered required viewing. This Criterion release is a must buy.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 2.39:1 mastered in high definition 1080p 24/fps using AVC MPEG-4 compression. The Criterion Collection originally released this film on DVD back in 2001, for this new release the film underwent a new 2K transfer. The transfer was created using the original 35mm master positive. The high definition result is extremely good. It could only get better if it where mastered from the original camera negative, which may not exist anymore. The resulting image featured a bold and striking black and white image, there are some scenes which look soft and contrast can be an issue at times, fluctuating contrast is noticeable at times and is annoying to be honest. On the plus side, the image is clean, most dirt, specks, scratches have been removed. Criterion have done a decent job of presenting the film in a manner that best reflects the way it was originally intended, grain is evident, and there is no evidence of any digital manipulation, which makes purists happy. Overall it's not an incredible transfer, but it's the best the film has ever looked.
Audio
Two audio tracks are featured, one in Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mixed at 48kHz/24-bit as well as a Japanese LPCM 1.0 mono track also mixed at 48kHz/24-bit. The 5.1 track is actually a 3.0 track decoded through a Perspecta integrator to create a simulated stereo experience. The reason being the 5.1 encode according to Criterion was to maintain compatibility with legacy receivers. For the purposes of this review I viewed the film mostly with its 5.1 track and also toggled to the 1.0 mono track to record any differences. I found that dialogue held up very well on both tracks, score and sound effects felt natural for the most part however, the 5.1 audio felt a little too spread out, the sound mix isn't as complex as most modern films so the simulated stereo track doesn't really add much to the film. The mono track sounded much better in my opinion even though it's limited to a single channel. Optional subtitles are included in English, I found no spelling or grammatical errors.
Extras
The Criterion Collection has released this film as dual format edition, with a Blu-ray disc and also a DVD edition. The supplements include an audio commentary, a documentary, an interview, the film's original theatrical trailer and a booklet with a liner note essay. Below is a closer look at these extras. DISC ONE: BLU-RAY First up is a feature-length audio commentary by film historian Stephen Prince, author of "The Warrior’s Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa". Prince gives viewers a terrific history lesson on the film, he comments on the technical attributes of the film, from its cinematography to editing. He discusses Kurosawa's intentions, the tones and themes as well as delves into the characters and on their motivations. It's a decent track, but I did find that he tends to stray off occasionally and talks about the events onscreen too much. Next up is the "Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create" a documentary (1080i) which runs for 40 minutes 54 seconds, this portion of the documentary focuses on the making of "The Hidden Fortress" and features insightful interviews with many of his collaborators and key cast and crew from the film. The feature takes viewers into the mind of the brilliant director and how he pieced his films together. Following that is an interview (1080i) from 2001 with filmmaker George Lucas about Kurosawa which runs for 8 minutes 9 seconds. a self-confessed fan, Lucas comments on the impact that Kurosawa had on audiences and also on influencing his work. The film's original theatrical trailer (1080i) is also featured and runs for 3 minutes 47 seconds. DISC TWO: DVD This is a DVD version of the film with the same supplements. Also included in the case is a16-page booklet featuring the essay "Three Good Men and a Princess" by film scholar Catherine Russell.
Overall
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