J-Film Blog

There are epic movies.  And then there are epics.  The ones that the other so-called epic films look up to and say “someday I want to be just like you.”

Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai is one of the few in that latter category.  It’s also one of the few films I’ve seen that doesn’t feel like its three-and-a-half hours long.  Full of action, drama, comedy, suspense, with a dash of romance and philosophy thrown in to top off the glass.

When a remote village finds itself yet again besieged by bandits stealing all of their hard-earned goods, they choose instead to fight back.  The problem is they don’t have the means.  So they send out a party in search of a samurai who will, for all purposes, “work for food.”  As luck would have it, they find one in Shimada (Takashi Shimura).  He in turn realizes that this is a job that he cannot accomplish alone, and together with the farmers, round up an additional six ronin samurai, each as different in their talents and personality as the next.  From the young “apprentice” Katsushiro (Isao Kimura), the wood-cutter, the hardcore pro, the archer, to the brash, unpredictable, maybe-not-samurai Kikuchiyo (Toshiro Mifune).

They return to the village, and proceed to formulate both a defense and a battle strategy, while at the same time whipping the men of the village into shape as a formidable fighting force.  When the final conflict finally arrives, it plays out in a fierce and often brutal manner, and with a price, just as most battles do.

All in all there wasn’t anything I remember not liking about Seven Samurai.  The pacing and storytelling of a nearly four-hour epic can sometimes lead to disaster, but not here.  At no time did I find myself in that “alright, get on with it” frame of thought.  Everything about the story is engaging, and keeps you hooked.  From the plight of the village, to the search for “the seven”, the preparation of the village, and most importantly the fight at the end.  Episodic to a point, but never dull.

Part of that is the humor inherent in the film.  From Mifune’s wacky unpredictable (but often useful) antics as Kikuchiyo (especially in the scene with the bandit), to the experience-hardened and wise Shimada’s chiding and subtle humor.   Its just a taste of how these two characters are fleshed out throughout the picture.  These two especially are shown from so many different aspects that you can’t help but love them.

Yes, this film was the inspiration for (at the very least) the western classic “The Magnificent Seven” which I’ve yet to see.  I just might now, if only to see how the story was adapted.  Other than the obvious “bald” connection that everyone seems to dwell on.  LOL.

You’ll also find that this is a rather frank and brutal picture for 1954, at least by American standards.  Plenty of carnage and death, and some romantically charged moments as well.  Can’t say that watching Mifune bound about in his samurai underwear for a good part of the film was particularly nice, either, if you get my drift, but thats just how it was I guess.

Basically I can’t find enough good things to say about it.  So rather than continue to ramble on, and try to explain all of the things that make this a true classic, I’ll just stop here.  Go watch it, find it, rent it, buy it…

…but you must see Seven Samurai if you claim to like movies.

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047478/
Amazon: Seven Samurai – 3 Disc Remastered Edition (Criterion Collection Spine # 2)