Original title: Kakushi Toride No San Akunin

Directors: Kurosawa, Akira

Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Misa Uehara

Japan 1958 | Black & white | 138 mins | Drama

Avaliable on: 35mm, DVD

A story of rival clans, hidden gold and a princess in distress, The Hidden Fortress is a thrilling mix of fairy story and samurai action film which became Kurosawa’s biggest box-office hit to date. Some thirty years on, the film’s influence would have even greater impact on world box-offices, when George Lucas borrowed its plot for the first of his Star Wars series.