Spectacular Classic Japanese Historic War Drama

Rating: 9/10 (21 October 2017)

Kagemusha (1980) is a History War Drama film starring Tatsuya Nakadai as Kagemusha and Shingen Takeda and Tsutomu Yamazaki as Nobukado Takeda. It's about a common thief who is about to undergo execution for his crimes. Just before his sentence, he is removed from the execution room, dressed in the King's robe, and brought to the King due to his striking resemblance to the King himself. Only a few close and trusted advisers to the King are aware of Kagemusha's death and the fact that Shingen is impersonating him including Kagemusha's son who struggles with this because he wants to be the King. This film has an amazing an interesting plot, the acting is superb, and the sets are beautiful.
This plot is interesting because the main actor plays two different parts so we get to see the actor playing two different personalities. It is also interesting to see how the main character struggles with the newfound duties of King. While the King is injured and at risk of death, Shingen hopes that he stays alive so he will not have to pretend to be King on a full-time basis. The King insists that due to the dire situation in his kingdom, no one must know he is dead for at least three years. He is very upset by the King's death at first and does not want to impersonate him but he is left without a choice as his life depends on it. Will Shingen be able to convince the people that he is Kagemusha and hold up the kingdom in a time of war?
The acting is wonderful and will make you fall in love with the lead actor and want to look up the rest of his work. You will be happy to know that Tatsuya Nakadai is still going strong and making new films. His portrayal of both characters- 2 different men with different wants, needs, goals, and backgrounds- excellently. The supporting characters in the film all do a great job as well. The incredible acting makes the film easy to follow and understand regardless of whether or not you know Japanese or have ever been to Japan.
I have never been to Japan myself and I can't say how authentic all of the sets were but I did find them extremely beautiful and they had me wishing that I could visit Japan. When Shingen is sitting with the 2 women sitting beside him and Nobukudo is trying to convince him that he is actually Shingen and not Nobuku, they are in a light grey room with different indents and brown wooden borders on the wall with white flowers all over. On the other side, there is a lamp and a window and a design of beautiful flowers. They are sitting on the floor without chairs and their orange bowls are atop small light brown tables with a tiny black stand on a beige rug. It is a very beautiful scene and will make you want to be there laughing with them.
I would recommend this film to those who enjoy both war dramas and historical dramas. If you only speak English, you will have to watch this film with subtitles of course, and therefore it requires more of your full attention to understand. If you are willing to put in the time (over 2 hours) that it takes to watch this feature, then you will likely enjoy this film. There is a lot of dialogue that takes places and it fills more of the music than action does, though there are some good action scenes in the film.
Shingen must convince Kagemusha's family members that he is him and this proves difficult as Shingen has limited knowledge on Kagemusha's life and family history. He only knows as much as a commoner like him would and anything else he learns while impersonating Kagemusha. While Shingen is speaking with Kagemusha's grandson, his grandson asks him, "Why are you called The Mountain?" and Shingen does not know the answer to this so the other family member who was with them had to quickly answer the question. Overall, I really enjoyed this film because the sets were beautiful and the plot was entertaining and was performed well by the actors.