Akira Kurosawa is perhaps the most important director of all time. His work has inspired future directors, writers, and even genres of film. Among his many cinematic triumphs, Seven Samurai reigns supreme. Kurosawa took his love of John Ford Westerns and mixed the ideals presented in those films with the samurai culture that he is descended from. Rather than draw from the noble myths that surround samurai, he used historical fact. Samurai after the fall of the feudal system became no separate from thieves, rapists, and bandits. This is a far cry from the romantic tales associated with them (the same holds true for knights in the Old World).
The opens with bandits coming across a village that they recently raided. In order to maximize their loot, they decide to come back once the peasants have had time to grow more crops. The farmers know that the bandits will come and a small group vow to fight back. They travel to a nearby city looking for ronin (masterless samurai) to recruit to lead the farmers. The samurai must be willing to work for only rice, for the farmers can't pay and no glory can be gained from this. The farmers hope to find four. Instead, seven volunteer for this fight. The most important are Kambei (the wise and experienced sage), Katsushiro (the youngest of the bunch and the only one whose dreams have not yet died), and Kikuchiyo (the off-kilter fighter who technically is not invited to join the group). Kikuchiyo is played by the incomparable Toshiro Mifune, who gives the character a wacky zaniness mixed with a heartfelt desire to be accepted. It is he who breaks the tension between the samurai and the peasants. Farmers have learned to fear samurai, while the ronin are outraged that peasants kill samurai if they get the chance. Kikuchiyo knows that the peasants do this because of all the atrocities that samurai have committed over the years.
The action sequences in the last third of the film were the most epic action scenes of their time. It has proved the foundation of the action genre with a grand battle to defend the village. Mifune swings his sword with such passion that in some places if you pause the film the blade disappears.
While the film is 3 1/2 hours long, Kurosawa presents the story in such a way that time flies. I've never seen a film that long that felt so short. The character development that the three main samurai and the peasants go through is astonishing. You actually care when someone dies because you've seen them for so long and you've gotten to know the characters in and out. Killer action, even better acting, and masterful pacing and direction make this one of the ten best films you'll ever see.
The opens with bandits coming across a village that they recently raided. In order to maximize their loot, they decide to come back once the peasants have had time to grow more crops. The farmers know that the bandits will come and a small group vow to fight back. They travel to a nearby city looking for ronin (masterless samurai) to recruit to lead the farmers. The samurai must be willing to work for only rice, for the farmers can't pay and no glory can be gained from this. The farmers hope to find four. Instead, seven volunteer for this fight. The most important are Kambei (the wise and experienced sage), Katsushiro (the youngest of the bunch and the only one whose dreams have not yet died), and Kikuchiyo (the off-kilter fighter who technically is not invited to join the group). Kikuchiyo is played by the incomparable Toshiro Mifune, who gives the character a wacky zaniness mixed with a heartfelt desire to be accepted. It is he who breaks the tension between the samurai and the peasants. Farmers have learned to fear samurai, while the ronin are outraged that peasants kill samurai if they get the chance. Kikuchiyo knows that the peasants do this because of all the atrocities that samurai have committed over the years.
The action sequences in the last third of the film were the most epic action scenes of their time. It has proved the foundation of the action genre with a grand battle to defend the village. Mifune swings his sword with such passion that in some places if you pause the film the blade disappears.
While the film is 3 1/2 hours long, Kurosawa presents the story in such a way that time flies. I've never seen a film that long that felt so short. The character development that the three main samurai and the peasants go through is astonishing. You actually care when someone dies because you've seen them for so long and you've gotten to know the characters in and out. Killer action, even better acting, and masterful pacing and direction make this one of the ten best films you'll ever see.