Coming to Criterion Blu-Ray 18 August.

Planning on picking this one up for sure. Kagemusha kind of holds a special place in my heart in that it was one of the films that convinced me to really get into cinema. In my senior year of HS I took a class on world literature and in addition to the reading my teacher showed three films: The Seventh Seal, Black Orpheus and this one (in addition, he also let me borrow his copy of Solaris on VHS; now that I think back I'm surprised my 17 year-old self actually enjoyed it). Of the four Kagemusha probably had the most impact on me (unsurprisingly, Kurosawa remains one of my favorite directors).

I will have to re-purchase"Kagemusha, this time in a a criterion edition ... I was appalled when I found that the copy that I bought had been reduced from 180 minutes to 152 minutes ... among the cuts being the excellent "sniper and flute" sequence. My copy also only has English subtitles for the hearing impaired so that every time someone laughs, or coughs or walks, you are informed of the fact in brackets across the bottom of the picture ... anyone thinking to buy this on DVD should avoid this at all costs and pay the extra for the true experience of this wonderful film.

But you ARE Blanche ... and I AM.