George Lucas considers Kurosawa the greatest living filmmaker, and Star Wars contains many ideas and plot elements borrowed from The Hidden Fortress (both the Princess-in-Distress story, and the comic subplot involving the robots come from Hidden Fortress - ditto the comic-action-adventure energy of the narrative). In his tongue-in-cheek treatment of the traditional Samurai period drama, Kurosawa comes up with a film which, according to Donald Richie, resembles an imaginary version of The Mark Of Zorro by Luis Bunuel: “The result is what they call an action-drama in the trade, but one so imaginative, so funny, so tender, and so sophisticated that it comes near to being the most lovable film Kurosawa has ever made.”

The Hidden Fortress is repeated on Wednesday, May 23.