|
september summer storm Early this morning Toshiro Mifune kept me entertained in the classic Kurosawa film The Hidden Fortress. I've known about it for some time, but never seemed to get around to seeing it until today. It was the third Kurosawa film that I've seen and it did pale in comparison to Ran and Rashomon, but that probably isn't fair to the movie. From what I understand Kurosawa was going for a lighter mood with his story and he succeeded on that front. Because of the focus on humor there were times when the story started to wear one me, but Mifune looked awesome as usual and the princess in the story was interesting as well. I had no idea that Japanese women in feudal times wore chino shorts. Telling the story from the point of view of peasants is what most people cite when they talk about The Hidden Fortress. Lucas did the same thing in the very first Star Wars movie except that his peasants were androids named C-3PO and R2-D2. ... With a steady wind from the south the weather was perfect for sitting out on my deck and reading. I came very close, but didn't finish Peter Hessler's River Town. I so wish that I had been in China in 1996 instead of the emotional mess that was my life at that time. |