| Kagemusha is one of Kurosawa's later films, in which he deals with such themes as vicarious existence and other personal illusions. One of the main ideas in the film is that if you deny your own personality as an individual and take on the superficial appearance of someone else, you may experience gain and even happiness, but eventually you are sure to be forced back to being yourself again, and you may find yourself worse off than before. There is a piece of dialogue in the film that very clearly backs this up. The late Lord Shingen's brother, in an emotional scene, says, `I was once in my brother's shadow. Now that I have lost him, it is as though I am nothing.' |
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