Okay, Kagemusha reminded me "in message" as a type of "Seven Samurai." I don't know how much I like it though. I grew to love both the thief (whom we see for most of the film), as well as the late lord. Which is amazing, the way they made a character so deep and likeable despite his being on-screen for all of 5 minutes of the film.
Anyway, that's not ruining it for anyone, since the title has to do with "stand-in for a warlord" or something, and the box pretty much tells you all that and more.
But yeah, it's visually pretty great... I read some bad reviews of it on IMDB but those are a little harsh, from Kurosawa purists I would assume. It's a little heavy-handed in the direction, but I have come to realize that Kurosawa is not exactly known for his subtlety.
Parts of it were a little too hollywood, like the son's ambitious retainer... but it wasn't so bad that I hated it.
It received a 7.8 on IMDB, and I think I agree with that. Maybe 8.3 (give or take half a point), if I saw it again I could tell you better.
Don't have time to watch Ugetsu yet. Hopefully tomorrow if I'm not too tired.
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