Kurosawa’s Kagemusha. The double

One of the main themes of Kurosawa’s Kagemusha is “the Shadow”, the hidden and darker side of the soul.

In the first scene we can see Lord Shingen, his brother and the peasant thief who is going to become Shingen’s shadow, his “kagemusha”. They are dressed the same, and they could stand for the three freudian levels of the soul: Nobukado- the I, Shingen- the Over-I (controlling all his brother’s moves) and the peasant- the It, primitive and rebellious. But this freudian construction goes only for the first scene. I believe from now on the jungian perspective is more appropriate.

The peasant is to become Shingen’s double, his shadow. And he starts by seeming an authentic shadow: he is reckless, grobian and ignorant. As the story goes on, the shadow slowly gets filled with the characteristics of the original. When Kagemusha discovers the dead body of his master, of the one he impersonates, the world as he knew it goes to pieces. He now realizes that he will have not only to pretend, but truly to BE Shingen.

 

The shadow comes to take the place of the light. Kagemusha’s dream could stand for the anguish induced by this unnatural inversion.

The darkness identifies with the light of the consciousness, it understands its stability (“a mountain doesn’t move”). It also understands the rules that configure the bright world of the consciousness and conforms to them. In order to show us this world of stillness and of continuous contact with and respect for the unmoved, Kurosawa’s gaze is itself immobile. The frames are symmetric, the movements are gentle and flowing.

The question rises: if the shadow was really to be a shadow, could it fit so profoundly into a world that isn’t its own? Kagemusha had inside him the real qualities of a warrior. Otherwise, he could never have replaced Shingen with such dignity.

The imposture is accidentally uncovered and Kagemusha is banished. People that would bow to him a day before, are now casting stones at him. Wearing his rags, he returns into his primitive world, but we know that by now he is a different man. Kurosawa makes of this a most touching scene.

And then, we learn with surprise that we were wrong. Kagemusha managed not only to almost perfectly impersonate Shingen , but also to hold Shingen’s world together, by doing as he would have done. The real double, the real shadow of Shingen is his son. Drawn by his frustration, he disobeys his father last wish. He doesn’t manage to understand the importance of stillness and he leads his army into battle. This is the end of the Takeda clan and of Shingen’s world. The double, his son, has taken over and this has lead to destruction and death. This is the only possible end for such a story.

The real shadow can never live into the light. Coming into the light, the shadow brings along its contrary, the darkness. Death and destruction. Kagemusha’s death is the second death of Shingen. And his body is carried away by the water just like the first time.