Everyone is a Shadow Warrior

Russel 2022-03-21 09:02:39

This is the best Japanese costume movie I have seen so far, and my favorite of Akira Kurosawa's movies.

The first time I heard the name "Shadow Warriors" was in Nolan's "Batman: Mystery of Shadows," a group that Bruce trained in.

The armor restoration of "Shadow Warrior" is better than that of "Ran". The interior rooms in Kurosawa's shots are always very simple and unadorned, with a uniquely Japanese minimalist beauty. Compared with "Shadow", it can be seen from the documentary "Zhang Yimou and His Shadow" that Zhang Yimou relies heavily on special effects such as CG that captures Deng Chao's expression, upgrades, and backgrounds of splashing ink, and props such as umbrellas and screens with various wild grasses. , thus lacking the beauty of lens composition and the realism of history, and Akira Kurosawa would never engage in these bells and whistles.

The death scene at the end was very interesting. The cross editing of Oda Nobunaga's infantry fire and General Takeda's terrified cross-cuts kept accumulating the tragic situation, and the last big panorama explained the destruction of the entire army, and then alternately used several telephoto shots to shoot the fallen soldiers and the dying horses. The upgrade of the time is just right, which means that the fate of the Takeda family is perishing with the mistakes of Takeda Katsurai, and the "mountain" moves, no matter how fierce the "wind", the towering "forest", or the "fire" is, it will not help.

After seeing half of it, I suddenly woke up, in fact, everyone is a shadow warrior. The thief is Takeda Shingen's shadow warrior, a tool for Takeda Shingen to continue to complete his hegemony, and a spiritual symbol; the important minister is the hidden shadow warrior, the person hiding behind the substitute, who arbitrarily manipulates the substitute, wants to become his own puppet, and acts recklessly; Takeda Katsurai is his father's shadow warrior. He has always wanted to get rid of his father's influence and prove his strength, but even if he conquers Gaotian Divine City, he is still under his father's shadow. Tian Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu are the shadow warriors of the Takeda family. They have been under the strong deterrence of the Takeda family, so that they have been deceived for three years and survived in unease. , forest, fire, mountain", executes Xinxuan's will, and sacrifices himself to protect the lord, just like Xinxuan's shadow.

In fact, out of movies, many people in our lives are also looking for shadow warriors. When we have to lose something, we are always reluctant to believe in reality, look for a substitute to seek psychological comfort, and continue to live in our fantasy. But just like the fate of the Shadow Warrior in the end, Xinxuan also pointed out that after his death, he would use a thief to find and complete his grand ambitions, but it was just a dream. In the end, the substitute fell into the water, and he couldn't reach the flag until he died, and this dream began to wake up.

Where is your shadow warrior?

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Extended Reading
  • Winnifred 2022-03-28 09:01:07

    A movie from 40 years ago, if you think about it carefully, this is 40 years! At the moment when everything is in pursuit of efficiency, it is a very unflattering and even dangerous move for the film, especially the drama, to slow down the pace and still tell a suspenseful story; but this film removes the director's reputation bonus, from film language to ideas The expression is still at the top level, especially the editing can be called a montage template, the atmosphere is not original, neat and agile; the ending is neat and tragic, and while feeling desolate, it naturally completes the transformation of consciousness from the individual to the whole. It is difficult to think about the social (political) meaning derived from the film along this thread of consciousness. This is the height of the master.

  • Monica 2022-03-25 09:01:14

    The shortcomings of Akira Kurosawa's works are that they are not good at expressing the motif with appropriate length, and the setting of actors and costume scenes is too exaggerated and dramatic. This film has a wonderful introduction, but the newer script involves less related plots such as the succession of the throne. The lengthy war scenes have never been directly rushed, and there is also a "Rashomon"-like contrived ending. A family that is doomed to decline cannot be preserved by a personality that cannot be forcibly preserved.

Kagemusha quotes

  • [the double's aides are worried that others will find out he is an impostor]

    Masakage Yamagata: Little Takemaru was a problem, but the horse is worse. It can tell. Only the late lord could ride it.

    Nobufusa Baba: If the double falls off, everyone will suspect.

    Nobukado Takeda: Lord Shingen has been ill. He must refrain from riding.

    Masakage Yamagata: Good idea.

    Masatane Hara: There are many other problems. We must be careful to keep the late lord's intentions.

    Katsusuke Atobe: Tonight he will have to meet the late lord's mistresses. How will he be with them?

    Masakage Yamagata: Our master has been ill. He must refrain from riding.

  • Nobukado Takeda: The shadow of a man can never stand up and walk on its own.