George Lucas has been known to have been inspired by Akira Kurosawa's work mostly citing the Hidden Fortress as THE Japanese flick that influenced Star Wars A New Hope the most. But Kurosawa had funding problems after a disastrous film and had a failed suicide attempted. Luckily, Francis Coppola and Lucas were having quite the success in the US and helped their master finance his next flick with the help of 20th Century Fox. And so Kagemusha saw the light of day.

Stream Kagemusha on yts with subtitles.  

Relevance Today A thief's greatest challenge is to steal someone's life. What makes it a rather daunting task is that the real person is a dead feudal lord with the responsibility to take care of his kingdom and fight wars. In this film, a petty thief slowly learns through trial and error that he is able to actively play the role of a lord convincingly, and even with the capability to deceive his enemies.

What the movie explores is to what extent a person is really himself and to what extent is he embodying a spirit. Could another man take over such a role, by being curious, playful, and receptive? This story highlights one of our main questions in life: Who am I? And how certain are we what that answer really is. Or are we just egos that have lost our real roles and are merely playing cameos in other peoples lives?

Kagemusha is clearly another Shakespearean influenced historic war epic of feudal Japan by Kurosawa featuring beautiful costumes, big sets and grand battle scenes. Well worth your time.

I hope you'll enjoy Kagemusha.

Bonus Fun Fact Lucas and Coppola were so crucial to the movie that they were featured high up in the end credits with their names translated to katakana. George Lucas is spelled like: Jioji Rukasu. Fun stuff.