User Reviews

The archetypal action film, Seven Samurai is also one of the richest works to ever be committed to celluloid. Each of its characters is extraordinarily realized; each has his or her own arc, his or her own vital part to play in the film's slow progression towards its dramatic finale. Typically, Kurosawa has put the film together using an exceeding degree of artistry; each and every shot, each action sequence, is exquisitely composed; and yet none seems contrived or out-of-place within the overall fabric of the work. Everything is beautifully conceived and in focus, both literally and figuratively.

When watching Seven Samurai, movie lovers will immediately recognize that several of its key elements can be readily detected in countless similar films made during the last half-century. The audition scenes, in which several samurai are recruited for the difficult task of defending a farming town from a group of bandits, strikes a particularly familiar chord, as do those showing the samurai training the lowly villagers to fight and use weapons. Indeed, the theme of a highly experienced group of "tough guys" taking up the cause of the disenfranchised has become something of an action film cliche, portions of which echo throughout the American western, as well as its progeny (think The Dirty Dozen, The Road Warrior or even television's The A Team).

But what really stands out in Seven Samurai are its characters. They run the gamut, from elder teacher to hopeful youth, stoic warrior to undisciplined brigand. Kurosawa even finds room for a youthful romance, not to mention the mix of poor and beleaguered townspeople he depicts within the setting of the town. Perhaps its no wonder the enemy bandits are virtually faceless-- there is so much conflict and passion present within the group of protagonists, the villains need not be more than a vague threat.

Through it all Kurosawa never forgets who these people are and where they stand in comparison to one another. Obviously, the samurai are, for the most part, samurai, while the townspeople are merely peasants, lacking even in funds to pay their noble defenders. Kurosawa deftly illustrates these class differences by having one peasant fear horribly for the honor of his daughter, who he suspects will be lured by the wealth of the samurai; and also by giving us one samurai who is no samurai at all, but merely a peasant himself whose own farming village was in his youth destroyed by marauding warriors. The film thus wraps a a portrait of class conflict in a cloak of solidarity. The samurai unite to defend the poor peasants, but the ending is not exactly happy for them. Nor are the peasants completely honorable. We learn, for instance, that they have in the past murdered defeated samurai and looted their bodies, and it becomes apparent late in the film that their claims of poverty are perhaps not as truthful as at first seemed apparent.

So why do the samurai defend them so valiantly? For honor? For love of adventure? The answer to this question is left intentionally vague; it is up to each viewer to draw his or her own conclusions. It is to the film's credit that it forces such questions upon us while never allowing them to cause the motivations of its characters to seem untrue.

Modern viewers will find the action sequences of Seven Samurai to be restrained. There are, for instance, no "Gladiator" or "Braveheart" moments in which limbs are visibly hacked off, blood flies and speakers pound with booming audio. But the action is wonderfully filmed and there is some early use of slow motion to accentuate key moments. The 3 1/2 hour running time may also deter some, but I find the length to be one of the film's charms; it takes its dear sweet time in exposing its riches, and no single moment feels underdeveloped or awkward. Don't miss it.

10/10

Though its biblical connotation is not the happiest one ("Seven Deadly Sins") number seven, omnipresent in our (7 days a) weekly cycles, seems to have been a lucky number in the world of cinema. Several very solid and some great movies have this number in their title, starting with gag-wise incredibly inventive Seven Chances (1925) from genius of silent era Buster Keaton, Frank Borzage's silent version of classic melodrama 7th Heaven (1927), Walt Disney's first feature-length animated movie, Snowhite and Seven Dwarfs (1940), recognized as an instant classic and remained so ever after, Stanley Donen's ear-pleasing, eye-riveting musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), staged in western milieu, with the breathtaking barn-raising dance sequence, Ingmar Bergman's literally Death-defying, answers-to-reasons-for-human-misfortune-seeking masterpiece, Det sjunde inseglet ("The Seventh Seal") (1957), Billy Wilder's Seven Year Itch (1957), a clever and amusing first collaboration with incomparable Marilyn Monroe (a worm-up for their second, bigger if not decisive step in taboos-of-the-motion-picture-production-code-breaking, brilliant comedy Some Like It Hot (1959)), up to newer examples like David Fincher's disturbing drama Se7en (1995), one of the finest Hollywood movies of the 90's, as well as Tsui Hark's Chat Gim ("Seven Swords") (2005), a stunner in the department of action sequences from the often under-appreciated genre Wuxia, originating from Chinese literature.

However, even among such illustrious examples of movie-making par excellence, one movie holds a special place, Shichinin no samurai ("Seven Samurai") (1954) from the legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. This movie doesn't seem to lack anything that an avid movie consumer, in particular samurai genre admirer, might be wishing for.

It is not easy to say anything new about the one of the most analyzed and scrutinized movies of the film history. Nevertheless, and despite being eventually only repeated, it shall be mentioned that movie has a simple but very engaging story - a group of peasants, representing a village, periodically stormed by gang of bandits, looting their crops and other possessions, hires several wandering ronins (masterless samurai) to help them protect the village - not without lucid observations on the possibility of social interaction between members of different classes during the almost seven centuries long feudal history (1185-1868) of Japan.

Characterization is excellent, and though having clear stand-outs in samurai's true leader, Kambei (Takashi Shimura), a wise tactician of the exceptional valor, as well as in the exuberantly uncontrollable Kikuchiyo (Toshiro Mifune), messy in its appearance and blustering in its manner, yet, a peasant descendant himself, making for a perfect link between the samurai and their employers, all other samurai are memorable, as well, sporting wide variety of personality traits. In joining the village protection campaign, hired for nothing more than a regular meal for as long as providing a service, thus primarily hoping to finally fill their starving stomachs, each one of them was driven by different additional motives, whether they were challenged to test their bravery, fighting skills and tactics, seeking for excitement and recognition, trying to regain pride and glory of the past days, just reaching out for that human touch (cross-class communication, even mere courtship promising relationship) they have been deprived of, or simply interested in its noble cause.

Together with true highlights in realistically choreographed battle scenes, showing all the pain and misery of excessive violence on the reverse of heroism, that even defenders cannot avoid resorting to, sadly announcing inevitable decline of the samurai and their ways exposed to new artless technology, unbecomingly dying ambushed by distant shots from the muskets, while ingloriously stuck in the village muds... it all makes for a compelling narrative.

Though triumphant in their common task to protect the village, unlikely alliance between samurai and peasants is ultimately doomed to fail. In the short run, it gives expected results, but in the long run, does not stand the chance. That is so loudly, although in fact silently, expressed at the end, when peasants don't even care to join the surviving samurai in their mourning over the fallen ones, not even giving the last well deserved respect to those who have helped them withstand fierce attacks, prevail and ultimately defeat bandits, and, in doing so, most of them given their lives. Peasants simply continue with their daily chores, while surviving samurai have to leave the village, like they have never existed, sadly symbolizing their ultimate destiny: slowly but surely stepping off the future pages of the history books.

Seven Samurai, the movie, is rightfully considered as the one that has redefined samurai film in its contemporary perception, and dawned almost two decades long string of successes, instantly becoming the brightest example of thus revived, uniquely provocative and entertaining sub-genre, unknown as such in the country of its origin, classified there within a broader genre, jidaigeki (a period drama, often describing events from pre-modern era of the Edo period, marking the governance of Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1868), relatively peaceful times for Japan's long history of civil wars, as opposed to gendaigeki, films treating contemporary matters), and by IMDb standards, as an action drama, occasionally historical, when based on real events.

Originating in the Edo-era Far East, it has inspired equally successful, star-studded (Y. Brynner, S. McQueen, C. Bronson, J. Coburn, E. Wallach, R. Vaughn, H. Buchholz, B. Dexter) Hollywood remake, The Magnificent Seven (1960), conveniently situated in the U. S. West of 19th century, as well as three lesser sequels, Return of... (1966), Guns of... (1969), and ...Ride! (1972).

This is one of those great epic films that stands the test of time. I only saw this film for the first time in 2000, almost 50 years after it was made, and was astounded by it. It was an epic that truly told the whole story. Whereas most movies today manage to skirt around huge chunks of what would happen, this movie manages to show them all, and not in a boring way. The samurai don't even reach the village in danger until more than 30 minutes into the film, all that time being spent getting to know each of the characters and the motivation and history behind them. We get to truly learn what it takes to be a samurai, and what truly sets them apart. By the time we arrive at the village we have become attached to some of the samurai in a very personal way, respecting each of them in their own way. The rest of the movie progresses as if it were a documentary, not a fictional film, where we see each and every piece of the grand puzzle that happens in this village. I can't recommend this film enough, though I must throw a disclaimer out that if you're not a fan of epic movies with subtitles you may not be as interested. It is a 3 1/2 hour long movie! But if you can find the time to sit down and watch it, I doubt you'll be very disappointed.

To truly appreciate how the motion picture became the art form of the twentieth century, you have to watch one that's not in the English language. By immersing yourself into a cinematic offering form France or Italy, Germany or Russia, Iran or India, only then will you profoundly understand the universality of film. Japan produced a titan whose success lifted his country's film industry from the ashes of defeat in the Second World War, and thus, placed it on a pedestal to compete with on an international level. That titan's name was Akira Kurosawa.

Kurosawa was one of the most influential directors in movie history, looked up to with reverence by his fellow filmmakers. Ingmar Bergman, Stanley Kubrick, Satyajit Ray, Robert Altman, Sidney Lumet, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Federico Fellini, and Werner Herzog are among those who have enthusiastically sung his praises. Even Kurosawa's idols, such as John Ford, expressed admiration for his skills. Kurosawa opened the world's eyes up to Japanese cinema when RASHOMON took the top prize at the Venice Film Festival in 1951. Curiously, his countrymen peers weren't ecstatic over his triumph, accusing him of selling out Japanese filmmaking by adopting Western ideals and forsaking Eastern traditions. But Kurosawa smashed through where many had failed.

The film generally regarded as his best is SEVEN SAMURAI, one of the most rousing motion pictures in history. Look on any website ~Rotten Tomatoes, Sight & Sound, etc~ that display their choices for best-of-all-time, and chances are you'll find SEVEN SAMURAI placed somewhere in the top ten. It spawned John Sturges' Western remake THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, which in turn inspired sequels, a television series, and another remake in 2016 starring Denzel Washington. In addition, SAMURAI's theme of a group of disparate men uniting for a noble cause launched a plethora of commando action flicks in its wake, ie. THE GUNS OF NAVARONE, DIRTY DOZEN, etc.

Kurosawa had already established his reputation prior to SEVEN SAMURAI, but by no means was Toho Studios prepared to indulge him with a blank cheque. During the preproduction stage, it was clear that what he and his writers were putting together was going to be the most epic movie ever made in Japan. Because of SAMURAI's scope, Kurosawa eschewed shooting on the Toho lot in favor of building a set in the countryside because he felt the location's authenticity would have a positive effect on his actors' performances. To the chagrin of Toho executives, he also set up multiple cameras for certain action scenes so that it would look more fluidly on screen. In doing so, he ensured that takes and retakes were kept to a minimum....and therefore allow him to cut the film without the possibility of any continuity errors.

A shortage of horses for the climactic action caused production to be temporarily shut down, not the first time it happened during filming. At least twice the Toho powers-that-be pulled the plug due to cost overruns, leading Kurosawa to pass the time by fishing his stress away, correctly surmising that Toho would never shelve SEVEN SAMURAI after investing so much time and money. But the delays resulted in the movie being completed in the cold winter, an ordeal leading actor Toshiro Mifune later recalled as his most physically demanding. But it sure looked exciting on celluloid!!!

The percussive tempo on SEVEN SAMURAI's opening credits do a better job of establishing the epic drama to transpire than any studio orchestra could ever hope to accomplish. The story is set in 1580's Japan, an era of feudalism, high taxes, drought, and forced labor. Every a small peaceful rural settlement is subjected to annual plundering by bandits, leaving the farmers with precious little crops remaining to feed their families. Feeling that God has abandoned them, the helpless villagers consult with the town elder for counsel. The old man recalls how one hamlet was spared from pillaging, and that was only because they hired samurai for protection. Because there is nothing but rice to offer as payment, the advice he dispenses to his humble flock is simple: find hungry samurai!!

Four of the peasants embark on a scouting mission from one village to another in the hope of successfully recruiting experienced fighters. Their search for a strong leader ends when they observe Kambei, a middle-aged ronin (or masterless samurai), subdue an outlaw who'd taken a young child hostage. Exhausted by a lifetime of battles, Kambei carries about him an aura of weary honor which precludes him being classified as a mercenary. Approached by the timid strangers, Kambei accepts their proposal as a matter of principle, and begins hashing out some preliminary details. The first decision is the most obvious: given the number of adversaries they will face, at least six more samurai are going to be needed.

And now for the vetting process!! Kambei doesn't have to look too far for his first recruit; Katsushiro derives from warrior bloodlines but has never been tested in combat. Like the farmers, he watched in awe as Kambei disarmed of the outlaw, and has wanted to be his Bff ever since. Another applicant is Gorobei, an affable archer whose talents earn him the position of second-in-command. A one-time lieutenant of Kambei's, Shichiroji, passes by and gladly enlists in their cause. That brings the number up to four!!

The most lethal enlistee is Kyuzo, a quiet, unassuming swordsman who prefers to let his weapon do his talking for him. Kyuzo doesn't see much point in wasting oxygen on small talk because he feels his lung power should best be reserved for battle. The next recruit is Heihachi, a skilled woodsman and carpenter. He doesn't possess the swordplay of his new comrades, but his talent for boosting morale will make him indispensable during critical situations. That's six!!!

The most unpredictable one is ronin wannabe Kikuchiyo (played with gusto by Toshiro Mifune), an untamed peasant looking to find his place in the world. He presents Kambei with a scroll that's the sixteenth century equivalent of a birth certificate. But the dates recorded would indicate his present age to be thirteen....which he cleat is not!! It's later revealed that Kikuchiyo descended from farming lineage, something he regards as a badge of shame, which is why he is so determined to be the seventh samurai. Aware that there's no way to discourage him, Kambei relents.

Kambei and Gorobei realize that the farmers can't always expect knights in armor to come to their aid, that they will have to be able to arm and defend themselves. Not possessing Kyuzo's blade skills nor Gorobei's archery prowess, the raw Kikuchiyo proves himself useful by subjecting the peasants to basic training, despite his own background being sketchy at best. While Kikuchiyo is channeling his inner Marine drill sergeant the others map out strategy and create spears from bamboo sticks. A creek runs through the village, separating four huts from the larger remainder. Therefore, Kambei orders those huts to be abandoned so that everyone can be concentrated on the more populous side and not be divided.

With the time afforded them until the bandits arrive, the magnificent seven wisely utilize it by furthering the village's fortifications. Samurai and farmers alike work together on building a protective moat and erecting large wooden fences to strengthen the the geographical weaknesses. Only one pathway is deliberately left unprotected....to lure their adversaries into a trap. Furthermore, to ensure a successful ambush, the samurai will also have to keep an eye open for enemy scouts!!

Despite SEVEN SAMURAI's running time clock in at three and a half idols, Kurosawa nevertheless fluidly balances the film's visual scope with its intimate moments, a hallmark of intuitive filmmaking. Across the Pacific and beyond, CinemaScope and 3-D were taking the movies by storm in order to compete with television. SEVEN SAMURAI had already begun production in the soon-to-be antiquated standard aspect ratio when Hollywood debuted the wide-screen process in 1953, and were not willing to switch formats in midstream. But in the hands of Kurosawa, SEVEN SAMURAI is a cinematic depth charge that blows all other Fifties epics right out of the water, with THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI being perhaps the only exception.

As much as the action in SEVEN SAMURAI's second half is well worth waiting for, the characterizations never take a back seat. Kurosawa weaves the subplots into the main storyline so skillfully that nothing looks derivative or tacked on. His most impressive pictorial touch is what is now known as "the wipe", the visual effect where a thin vertical line appears onscreen moving from right to left when one scene is ending and another is about to begin. Kurosawa thought it would be more effective than the slow dissolve. Although he wasn't the first to use that technique, he made it so influential it was subsequently borrowed by baby boomer directors such as George Lucas, who utilized it in his Star Wars series.

The legacy of SEVEN SAMURAI has endured ever since its making seventy years ago. Lucas admitted that Kurosawa influenced more than just The Wipe; sharp-eyed analysts have noticed how much the Jedi knights have in common with the feudal era ronin. Light sabers are simply the intergalactic substitute for the Japanese katana. And let's not forget the correlation between samurai movies and American Westerns, especially those made by Ford. Kurosawa applied many innovative touches, but there can be no disputing how he adopted one of Ford's deceptively simplistic methods of directing a picture, which was "photograph the actor's eyes" because, after all, aren't the eyes supposed to be the windows to the soul? Sometimes the great art of a film lays with its apparent artlessness.🔚

It is hard to know exactly where to begin when talking about a film of such utter quality. What must be said at the start is that "The Seven Samurai" is flawless. It's characters are brought to life by some of the finest and most committed acting I have ever seen. It is a compelling story of courage, duty, honor, respect and change.

I could echo Roger Ebert's commentary, in which he noted that Kurosawa's film set the standard for the modern action film. It was he notes the first film to assemble a team of hardened men to undertake a mission. But I say read Eberts review if you want to get his take.

I have watched the film several times and what is truly amazing about "The Seven Samurai" is the way in which Kurosawa choses to tell his tale, which is, I think, truly innovative and subtle.

Growing up on action fare as we have "Seven Samurai" should really hold no magic for us. We have the formula (in many forms) before. Countless times. However it is not old to us and magic it carries. I make the case (now anyway) that this comes largely from Kurosawa's knack, his amazing gift, for photographic composition. Most filmmakers today in the action genre have some flare for flashy cinematography. We get sharp angles, dramatic poses (most favorably lighted), and fast cuts. I guess this is to involve us in the high emotion of the situation. But Kurosawa has patience and while I think he gave the blocking of his shots, and their composition a great deal of thought, it comes across as if he did not. His camera moves as though it were simply following the characters through the story. The camera work in "Seven" is so much more subtle and so much more compelling than almost any action fare today. His camera allows, we the viewer, to be, at various times, all of the major characters in the film.

Toshiro Mifune's emotional explosion at his "fellow" Samurai is probably the most obvious example of this. He gets up and at first appears to agree with the Samurai sentiment that killing all of the villagers is a good idea, but when he turns and his anger is directed at them the scene and our place in it change. We are no longer passive viewers watching heated exchange between two factions. The angry Toshiro is yelling at us, looking down at us. For we are looking up at him as his fellow samurai would see him. By the end of his out burst he angrily leaves the room but before he goes he turns slightly to look at us, but we don't see his face, for now we are looking (in one of the great shots of the film) at his feet. The Samurai are ashamed and so are we because we identified with them at first and Kurosawa had the guts to show us that we are wrong to do so.

I could go on, and on about his film, but I leave you with this, watch it.

This movie is considered one of the greatest movies of all time and was certainly groundbreaking in many ways. However, for this viewer, there were too many flaws or distractions to allow me to rate it higher than a 7.

Yes, the story is well told, but the movie is too long. Some scenes drag on longer than necessary to make the point. There is a lot of setup to get to the more entertaining action scenes in the last third of the movie.

Some things that particularly bothered me and detracted from the movie for me were the incredibly obvious skull caps that many of the main characters wore. It was close to comical with some actors and that immediately distracted me and weakened the movie for me. Next, while Kirasawa is famous for his attention to detail and cinematography in the battle scenes, there were real weaknesses there. While the villagers had very long spears, they did not seem to use them to maximum effect, when simply ramming the riders with the spears would have been enough in real life to knock them off their horses immediately or kill them outright. They also would have used them against the horses themselves in a real battle. Then, in most cases after riders fell from their horses, even when surrounded they almost always were able to crawl away briefly before being stabbed. Next, despite the great potential for exciting sword fights between the samurais and the bandits, this was almost or entirely nonexistant. The samurais never really got to show their skill, other than single swipes at the riders or simply stabbing the bandits. A complete waste of cinematic excitement!

Finally, while presumably the bandits were in it to fight to the death, this is only hinted at and it just seemed idiotic for their forces to get weaker and weaker and yet they continue to attack with no hope for success or even a plan to win. I could not help but focus on how stupid they were and that it was obvious they were going to lose badly. The film tries to build up the drama for the "climactic" battle, but it is completely ridiculous.

Last, while the bandits have their "fort" destroyed by fire, they never think to use fire to defeat the villagers. This, again, makes no sense at all and was so obvious a solution that it was very distracting.

Another annoying factor was that the villagers were portrayed as completely pathetic, actually crying hysterically many times in the movie. They came across more as losers than people deserving of sympathy. I just didn't get the purpose of the excessive crying. Also, a few times the screaming of various characters seemed excessive and made them less realistic to me.

So, in conclusion, these were significant flaws to me that brought my rating of the film down. I consider it worth watching and overall entertaining, but just not a great film.