Kagemusha 1980

When their daimyo dies from an infected wound, it’s the worst possible time for the Takeda clan as they battle against the rest of the country for control. Luckily for Shingen, he meets a thief that looks exactly like him. The order to his generals is clear: Keep the pretense that he’s alive for just three years. The execution of that order? Not so straightforward. Kagemusha takes this real wartime practice to explore how powerful yet fragile a movement can be, especially when propped up by only appearances. This movement has grown to be greater than Shingen, but it cannot function without him, with only the nameless thief’s visage holding everything together. We don’t even know anything about him, other than his want to live up to the real deal. And as the film goes through his journey, Akira Kurosawa reclaims his full reputation back, taking down the challenge of color filmmaking through returning to his familiar epics and his signature, striking frames. Kagemusha beautifully captures how hard it is to match up the ideal, and thoughtfully considers how it can all be washed away.