From westerns to stories by Buck Rogers and Frank HerbertX Duneevery star Wars the fan is well aware of the many genres and works of art that George Lucas borrowed to create his iconic space opera. However, some of these works have been more influential than others. And from all the elements that helped make star Wars what we have today is perhaps nothing more important than classic samurai films. In fact, there is perhaps nothing more important than one particular film of this genre: Akira KurosawaX hidden fortress.
Originally released in 1958, hidden fortress tells the story of two peasants caught in the middle of a war who unknowingly help a princess and her general cross enemy lines. It’s a fun and accessible movie classic that unfortunately isn’t one of the first things that come to mind when we think of Kurosawa’s films. However, looking at it, Lucas immediately saw something there. Creator star Wars repeatedly spoke of his love for Kurosawa and even served as an executive producer for the director’s 1980 film’s international distribution. Kagemusha. And although hidden fortress is not at the top of his list of favorite Kurosawa films, it is clear that this film has had an incomparable influence on his work. From cinematic techniques to major plot points, many hidden fortress can be found in star Wars. And it all starts with the fact that the evil empire is hunting for the princess.
What is The Hidden Fortress about?
IN star Warsthis princess is Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) from the planet Alderaan. But in hidden fortresscharacter Misa UeharaYuki. The last survivor of the Akizuki clan, she must escape the wrath of the Yaman soldiers who killed her family and ravaged her kingdom. Her companion on this journey is the legendary samurai Rokurota Makabe (Toshiro Mifune), with whom she hides in her family’s mountaintop fortress. Unsure how to cross the heavily patrolled border between Akizuki and the allied kingdom of Hayakawa, Yuuki and Rokurota see their fates change when they encounter two greedy peasants who have a plan: reach Hayakawa through the less guarded border between Akizuki and Yamana. After all, no one expects the princess to cross into enemy territory.
Peasants, Matasici (Kamatari Fujiwara) and Tahei (Minoru Chiaki), are the real stars of the movie. The story is told from their point of view. After leaving their village to join the war and hopefully make some money, they are devastated to return home empty-handed when confronted by Princess Yuuki and her general. Fearing their greed, which could lead them to give away the princess’s whereabouts to Yaman forces in exchange for a reward, Rokurota hides his identity from the men. However, he convinces Matashichi and Tahei to help him and the princess cross the enemy line by promising to share Akizuki’s treasure of 200 gold coins with them. Of course, this is a lie as Yuki uses the treasure to rebuild his family’s empire. However, this is the only way to make sure Matashichi and Tahei don’t run away from them.
With a fast pace and a lot of humor, which makes it very different from other, more famous Kurosawa epics such as Ran — hidden fortress follows the four main characters on their journey through the territory of Yaman. Under the guise of a dumb peasant, Princess Yuuki begins to sympathize with the plight of the common people. Meanwhile, Matashichi and Tahei constantly prove why they can’t be trusted. From trying to attack the princess to trying to trick her into escaping with gold, nothing beats them. Rokurota in turn faces an old rival and does his best to fulfill his duty as Yaman’s men close in on them.
By the end of the film, Rokurota and Yuuki reach safety with the help of a defecting enemy general, Hyo Tadokoro (Susumu Fujita). For helping Matasichi and Tahei, one piece of gold is given, which they must share equally. This is both a reward and a punishment at the same time - how could two greedy people like Matashichi and Tahei agree on how to share the gold?
How did The Hidden Fortress influence Star Wars?
At first sight, hidden fortress seems to have nothing to do with star Wars. However, upon closer inspection, it’s not hard to see the impact Kurosawa’s film had on Lucas. First, there are similarities between Yuuki and Leia. While the two characters aren’t exactly carbon copies of each other, they are both headstrong, outspoken women in charge of fighting enemy power and restoring the overthrown regime. While Leia’s people were killed in the destruction of Alderaan, Yuki’s family was wiped out by Yaman’s attack on Akizuki.
You can also compare the characters of Rokurota and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness). Both are legendary battle-hardened generals who hide their identities, and as the film progresses, both come face to face with an old rival. In fact, Rokurota’s duel with Hyoh is very similar to Kenobi’s lightsaber duel against Darth Vader (David Prowse And James Earl Jones), which is almost shocking when Rokurota survives. According to his son, Toshiro Mifune was even offered the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi, but he turned it down, fearing that star Wars would be a cheap movie. In earlier drafts of the script, both Obi-Wan and Leia were much more prominent characters, as was their attempt to cross the enemy line, Lucas told the Criterion Collection. However, the director also stated that this was more of a coincidence than anything else.
star Wars also borrowed a lot from hidden fortress in terms of imagery. The coat of arms of the Galactic Empire bears a striking resemblance to the symbol representing the Yamana clan. Integer frames, such as R2D2 (Kenny Baker) and C3PO (Anthony Daniels) dispute in the desert and the final image of Princess Leia with Luke (Mark Hamill) and Han (Harrison Ford) next to her are taken directly from Kurosawa’s film. Wipe transitions that are being edited in star Wars became known, is also heavily present in hidden fortress.
Most of the influence hidden fortress V star Wars can be found in the original film of the franchise, now known as Episode 4 — New Hope. However, there is at least one element of Kurosawa’s story that managed to make it into the prequels. IN hidden fortressPrincess Yuuki was distraught to learn that Yamana had beheaded one of her maids, Rokurota’s sister, in her stead. This plot point is reflected in Star Wars: Episode II — attack of the clonesin which Senator Amidala (Natalie Portman) servant and decoy, Corday (Veronica Segura), was killed instead of her during the assassination attempt.
But the most important thing is that star Wars And hidden fortress What is common is the point of view from which the story is told. In an interview with the Criterion Collection, Lucas stated after watching hidden fortressWhat hooked him most was Kurosawa’s idea of telling the story of a war between empires from the perspective of two of its most unassuming characters, a pair of frightened peasants. So Matashichi and Tahei became R2D2 and C3PO. “I thought it would be a good way to tell star Wars A story where the humblest characters, like Kurosawa did, tell the story from their point of view,” Lucas said. Star Wars’ The thing is, the two droids made the biggest impact.”
Although Lucas only acknowledged that he was influenced by Matasichi and the influence of Tahei in creating star Warstwo main droids, many of the two peasants can also be found on Han Solo and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew). In particular, both the peasants of Kurosawa and the smugglers of Lucas only join the fight against the empire out of greed. But while Solo and Chewbacca eventually came to believe in the rebellion, Matashichi and Tahei remain the same from the beginning to the end of the film.
Indeed, between hidden fortress And star Wars, the most notable of which is the lack of a Luke-like character in Kurosawa’s film. However, it’s undeniable that the story of Princess Yuki and General Rokurota has been a big influence on George Lucas, from making movies to building the world. This is definitely a movie that star Wars a must see for fans as well as a great entry into Akira Kurosawa’s impressive work.
Source: Collider
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