Japanese Film "The Hidden Fortress" to be Screened March 18, 2011

Kurosawa Film Served as Inspiration for "Star Wars"

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Still from Akira Kurosawa film "The Hidden Fortress"

ALBANY, NY (02/24/2011)(readMedia)-- THE HIDDEN FORTRESS (KAKUSHI-TORIDE NO SAN-AKUNIN, Japan, 1958, 139 minutes, b/w, in Japanese with English subtitles, directed by Akira Kurosawa) will be shown on Friday, March 18 at 7:30 p.m. in Page Hall, 135 Western Avenue, on the University at Albany's downtown campus. Sponsored by the New York State Writers Institute, the screening is free and open to the public.

Two bumbling misfits join a battered warlord (Toshirô Mifune) and a mute young girl on a quest for treasure in this comic samurai epic by master director Akira Kurosawa. George Lucas has acknowledged the film as a primary influence in the creation of STAR WARS.

For additional information contact the Writers Institute at 518-442-5620 or online at http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst.

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