Kagemusha

MONTHLY CLASSICS open_in_new

『影武者』

In-Person Screening

Friday, June 10 at 7 pm

Screening on 35mm! A majestic chronicle of a petty thief surreptitiously given another chance at life to serve as a kagemusha (double) for an aging warlord, Kurosawa’s late-period masterpiece erupts into a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions—relaying a fable of fealty, duty and power against a backdrop of feudal Japan. When the lord is mortally wounded, the kagemusha reluctantly impersonates the daimyo at the command of the clan’s inner circle. Fated to play a part in a life not his own, the kagemusha must deceive even the warlord’s closest kin, challenging his own commitment to the role even as the outbreak of war looms.

Dir. Akira Kurosawa, 1980, 160 min., 35mm, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Tatsuya Nakadai, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kenichi Hagiwara.