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THE HIDDEN FORTRESS – Masaru Sato
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Director Akira Kurosawa believed that, after the sad and tragic narratives of his previous two films, Throne of Blood and The Lower Depths (both released in 1957), it was time for a change. As he explained in an interview, “I want to make a 100% entertainment film, full of thrills and fun.” To that end, he conceived a jidaigeki adventure film – a Japanese period piece. He collaborated with writers Ryūzō Kikushima, Hideo Oguni, and Shinobu Hashimoto to create an original screenplay and secured funding from the Toho Company. Kurosawa oversaw production alongside Sanezumi Fujimoto and also directed the film. For the cast, Toshiro Mifune starred as General Makabe Rokurota, joined by Minoru Chiaki as Tahei, Kamatari Fujiwara as Matashichi, Susumu Fujita as General Hyoe Tadokoro, Takashi Shimura as General Izumi Nagakura, and Misa Uehara as Princess Yuki. Read more…
THRONE OF BLOOD – Masaru Sato
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Upon finishing his last film, I Live in Fear in 1955, renowned director Akira Kurosawa began to conceive of his next project and decided that he would retell William Shakespeare’s famous 1606 play Macbeth from a Japanese cultural perspective. To that end, he sought to impart native Japanese cultural sensibilities by embracing Noh, a classical form of Japanese dance-drama performed since the 14th century. Noh utilizes masks, costumes, and stage props to support performances in which emotions are expressed through stylized gestures and masks that symbolize ghosts, women, deities, and demons. Noh also espouses the ancient Buddhist doctrine of impermanence and the concept of a soul denied salvation and condemned to wander the mortal world, a theme reflected in Washizu’s fate. Read more…
Masaru Sato, 1928-1999
Composer Masaru Sato died in Tokyo on December 5, 1999, at the age of 71, after collapsing at a celebration held in his honor.
One of the most prolific composers in Japanese cinema, Sato wrote more than 300 film scores during a career spanning almost five decades. He is best remembered internationally for his ten-year collaboration with Akira Kurosawa, including Throne of Blood, The Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, High and Low and Red Beard, as well as for several entries in the Godzilla series.
Sato was born in Rumoi, Hokkaido, on May 29, 1928, the youngest of six brothers in a music-loving family. He studied at the National Music Academy in Tokyo and became particularly inspired by fellow Hokkaido composers Akira Ifukube and Fumio Hayasaka. After seeing Kurosawa’s Rashomon, Sato sought out Hayasaka personally and became his pupil and assistant, eventually helping orchestrate Hayasaka’s monumental score for Seven Samurai (1954).
Sato’s first major independent assignment was Godzilla Raids Again (1955), the sequel to Toho’s original Godzilla. That same year Hayasaka died suddenly while working on Kurosawa’s I Live in Fear, and Sato was asked to complete the score. Kurosawa was sufficiently impressed that Sato became his regular composer for the following decade. Read more…
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