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A+ |
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A+ |
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A+ |
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| Direction: |
A+ |
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A+ |
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The Great Movies: Seven Samurai
by Eric (movies profile)
Sep 7, 2007
1
of
1 people found this review helpful
It's impossible to think of modern film today without thinking of Akira Kurosawa. He changed so many of the rules not only of filmmaking, but of storytelling in his films, taking us into realms not only of the visual, but of the emotional ranges few have ever ventured and never with the same kind of boldness. Anyone who has ever seen more than one of this master filmmaker's films can tell you there is never just one that is his greatest. But if I were tortured into it, I would have to say it would be Seven Samurai.
This film has a plot that guides us through the story, but is not bound to it. There is a history that is never lectured, but is visible all the same. This is morality tale as well as an adventure. This is an epic that didn't play by the rules of epics and inspired filmmakers around the world to do the same.
We first see a village in bitter turmoil. They can't eat because bandits take their food. They want to fight back, but they don't know how to. On top of that, the bandits might not just stop at taking their crops. But one young man encourages the patriarch of the village to give it a shot. They can't pay for samurai protection since they have no money. But perhaps there might be a few samurai who might do it for the challenge. And so the young man is sent off to find help. They quickly find an older samurai (Takashi Shimura), who helps to disarm a criminal who is holding a child hostage. They also find a samurai fool of sorts (Toshiro Mifune, one Japan's finest actors), who is the polar opposite of the older one. The needy villagers are told it will take seven superbly-trained samurai to fend off the bandits. And over the next few days, they go looking for them. Each samurai they find has a personalities as rich as they come. From the stoic master swordsman (I wouldn't even fight him in my sleep) to a young samurai in training. These seven men find brotherhood amongst themselves and encourage a villiage to fight for themselves.
If the film was just that, it would be good, but not excellent. What makes it excellent is how these characters react to each other. The villagers are hesitant to trust the samurai due to history and prejudice. The samurai have to fight as one even though some of them aren't so prone to teamwork. When the day of combat arrives, there are deaths, and the samurai are not invincible. This film argues more than freedom vs. oppression, but life vs. death on the most philosophical terms.
The two amazing performances from this film come from Shimura's wise older samurai, who has to not only keep his team together, but unite the villagers to their own cause. The other being Mifune's rouge whose contempt for samurai and peasants have serious reasons behind them, but who also jests as a means of bringing people together. Watch a scene where he entertains some of the village kids. Mifune's performance is probably the strongest since he's the wild card in this film.
Kurosawa is a master of putting together incredible shots that leave your jaw open. With Seven Samurai, his job isn't to be fancy, but to give pace and understanding to the action. He doesn't use stage-fighting in this film (or in any of his films, he liked showing realistic combat), but swordmen who use simple sword techniques to block and attack. Only one swordsman makes fighting look good (and that's because he's the best, and you believe it). He also knows how to shoot in the rain and in the dark. He isn't so much crafty in his shots with this film as firm and decisive. You never for one minute forget what's going on or what's at stake.
As we get to the end of this three hour epic (I've seen the movie six times, it still surprises me it's 3 hours, it feels shorter than that), we get to an ending that isn't lighthearted or cheeky. In fact, I would think it would be the Saving Private Ryan ending of that age. It might be sad, but it's honorable and we still feel thankful for following those brave men. And that's how you change the rules of storytelling. |
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