Cannes 2015: 10 Past Palme d'Or Winning Movies You Have To See

9. Kagemusha

From around the late 1960s onwards many people felt that Akira Kurosawa had lost the spark that made him such a fine film director - it's certainly true that the high calibre movies he was acclaimed for in the 1950s seemed like a thing of the past, with the commercial failure of Dodes'ka-den sending him into a period of suicidal depression. Kurosawa emerged from these dark times to produce Kagemusha in 1980, and while it perhaps wasn't quite the return to form that many would laud him for five years later when he directed his final masterpiece Ran, it was nevertheless a bold and visually striking return from the wilderness which explored themes of class, political tension and moral responsibility. Surprisingly, Kurosawa's revitalised career wouldn't have happened without the invaluable financial assistance from non other than George Lucas - perhaps the Star Wars creator felt some obligation to assist after borrowing ideas and characters so heavily from Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress.