Kurosawa's first use of the wide screen, and his ingeniousness with images of that shape becomes apparent fairly soon — say about the first or second shot. The storyline, if not the images alone, pulls you in, and along, with a folk-tale kind of enchantment, and it makes room for what must surely be the meatiest female role in Kurosawa's entire output — a doughty princess disguising herself in servant's clothing and travelling through hostile territory under the protection of a loyal samurai. Toshiro Mifune, Minoru Chiaki, and Kamatari Fujiwara. (1958) — Duncan Shepherd
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