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FilmSkool — a free film school

The Hidden Fortress (1958)

Name: The Hidden Fortress
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Genre: drama film, adventure film
Duration: 139 min
Rating: 8

Directed by Akira Kurosawa.

Directed by Akira Kurosawa · Shot by Ichio Yamazaki · Cut by Akira Kurosawa · Music by Masaru Sato · 139 min

How it was made

The Hidden Fortress was Kurosawa's first feature shot in the widescreen Tohoscope format, which he continued to use for the next decade, and was originally released with Perspecta directional sound.
Production shot on location in Hōrai Valley, Hyōgo, and on the slopes of Mount Fuji, where a record-breaking typhoon brought bad weather that delayed filming.
Toho's frustration with how slowly Kurosawa shot the film led him to form his own production company the following year, though he continued distributing his films through Toho.

Behind the scenes

George Lucas on "The Hidden Fortress" — filmSCHOOLarchive · 13 min
THE HIDDEN FORTRESS - George Lucas on the Kurosawa Film that Inspired STAR WARS — Cinema Labyrinthine · 5 min
The Hidden Fortress: The Perfect Adventure Film — Bushido Blues · 18 min

Elsewhere

The Hidden Fortress — trailer
All Akira Kurosawa films

More by Akira Kurosawa

Horse — 1940
Sanshiro Sugata — 1943
The Most Beautiful — 1944
Sanshiro Sugata Part II — 1945
The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail — 1945
No Regrets for Our Youth — 1946
Those Who Make Tomorrow — 1946
One Wonderful Sunday — 1947
Drunken Angel — 1948
The Quiet Duel — 1949
Stray Dog — 1949
Rashomon — 1950
Scandal — 1950
The Idiot — 1951
Ikiru — 1952
Seven Samurai — 1954
I Live in Fear — 1955
Throne of Blood — 1957
The Lower Depths — 1957
The Bad Sleep Well — 1960
Yojimbo — 1961
Sanjuro — 1962
High and Low — 1963
Red Beard — 1965
Dodes'ka-den — 1970
Dersu Uzala — 1976
Kagemusha — 1980
Ran — 1985
Dreams — 1990
Rhapsody in August — 1991

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