186 KAGEMUSHA [THE SHADOW WARRIOR]
overconfident after his successes, the kagemusha tries to ride Shingen’s excitable
horse, but is thrown to the ground. As soldiers rush to his aid, they notice that he
is missing Shingen’s unique battle scars. The thief is shown to be an imposter, and
Katsuyori assumes his rightful place as leader of the clan. Meanwhile, Oda and
Tokugawa press onward in an effort to overtake the Takeda territory. Command-
ing his army, Katsuyori strikes against Nobunaga, culminating in the disastrous
Battle of Nagashino (28 June 1575). Takeda cavalry and infantry attack in waves,
but are defeated by the Oda troops who have hidden behind stockades. The thief,
now exiled, witnesses the slaughter and makes a brave show of commitment to
his clan by running at the Oda frontlines with a spear. The kagemusha is badly
injured and dies while trying to pull the fūrinkazan from the river (the fūrinkazan
is Shingen’s battle standard inscribed with “Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain,” the four
phrases from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War: “as swift as wind, as gentle as forest, as fierce
as fire, as unshakable as mountain”).Reception
Released in Japan on 26 April 1980, Kagemusha went on to become the country’s
most popu lar film that year, grossing ¥2.7 billion at the box office (the equivalent
of $13.6 million in 1980). Screened in competition at the Cannes Film Festival in
M ay, Kagemusha won the Palme d’Or, sharing it with Bob Fosse’s All That Jazz. The
film premiered in the United States at the New York Film Festival on 1 October 1980
and then went into general release five days later but had poor box office returns;
a three- hour epic about medieval Japan, Kagemusha had very limited appeal in
foreign markets. It did, however, garner lots of accolades, including two Oscar
nominations (for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Art Direction), a Golden
Globe nomination (Best Foreign Language Film), and four BAFTA nominations,
winning for Best Direction and Best Costume Design. Kagemusha also won
France’s César Award for Best Foreign Film. Critics often remarked upon the film’s
epic sweep, visual grandeur, and elaborate sense of pageantry but also noted its
essential pessimism. As Roger Ebert noted, “Kurosawa seems to be saying that
great human endeavors... depend entirely on large numbers of men sharing the
same fantasies or beliefs. It is entirely unimportant, he seems to be suggesting,
whether or not the beliefs are based on real ity— all that matters is that men accept
them. But when a belief is shattered, the result is confusion, destruction, and death”
(Ebert, 1980).Reel History Versus Real History
Kurosawa anchored Kagemusha in Japan’s complex medieval history but also took
considerable artistic license with his source material. As portrayed in the film,
Takeda Shingen (1521–1573) was a power ful feudal lord who waged war against
his rivals, Oda Nobunaga (1532–1584) and Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616), for con-
trol of Kyoto, Japan’s capital at that time. In the movie, Shingen is shot by a sniper
and dies while laying siege to a Tokugawa clan stronghold (Noda Castle in Mikawa
Province). Though it is kept secret, Shingen’s death causes the Takeda clan to break
off the siege and retreat. In real ity Shingen died on 13 May 1573, almost three