i still havent gotten to this film, even though ive seen other kurosawas thats probably dont reach its level. i know im missing something big, but ill eventually get to it one day.
It’s a grand entertainment and tremendous epic achievement, with superb pacing, interesting, carefully delineated and memorable characterisation, brilliant editing, a love of rain, mud and weather, some shots and other aspects reminiscent of John Ford, i also like the lyrical interlude in the beautiful woodland glade. I’m not as taken as some are with Mifune’s buffoon, though of course he’s larger than life and charismatic. There’s also a scene by a waterfall that reminded me of a dream; excellent use of locations. Waterfalls pop up quite often in prints by Hokusai and Hiroshige.
For all those who wanted to see this film at the first time. I recommand to assure that you get the 207 min-version and not the version once edited for the international market. The shorter version focuses more on the action scenes (how groundbreaking and fascinating they are) while the longer version is more preceise with the complex relationship Peasents and Samurais.
Director Ramin Bahrani puts it on his favorites list and qoutes,
Seven Samrai- “Lessons one through one hundred in how to write, shoot, direct, and edit a film. Sit down and enjoy”
I always felt that way, it inspires, entertains and is timeless. Classic in every sense.
One of the greatest action films of all time, Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, with its emotional range, dazzling technical virtuosity (to bring viewers the immediacy of the final rain-soaked battle, Kurosawa employed a device rare in films of the time, the telephoto lens. This is extremely effective in the 3-shot technique seen throughout the battles; a bandit enters the village on a horse, one of the samurai attacka him, in close-up the horse’s feet dance in frantic entrapment through the mud as the bandit falls and is set upon by the villagers), remains, over 50 years ater its release, a supreme example of cinema’s power to arouse and astound me.
My all-time favorite film.
Interesting is also that Ray and Kurosawa are probably the directors others have most stolen of. Some with respect and legal, others just tried to imitate it, especially in the early 60s when Kurosawa began to struggle more and more to realize his projects.
For me he defines the warrior class. They defend a culture but did they have any part in building it?
Kurosawa’s men act out of a variety of motives and social responsibility is clearly one and a necessary one.
If there is a better performance on film than Takashi Shimura’s, Kambei, please tell me because I want to see it NOW.
I’ve seen it four times now and like it more and more with each viewing…though I still actually prefer Rashomon, for some reason.
Doinel is right to highlight Shimura’s performance. Each of the samurai has his own distinguishing characteristics and/or mannerism and they are sometimes quite broad but he holds the whole thing together superbly, so although there are performances that have dazzled me more i can’t really answer Doinel’s challenge with a confident “here you are..” I might suggest Louise Brooks in Pandora’s Box, Robert De Niro in Raging Bull, Fred Astaire’s dance routines, Buster Keaton in The General etc, Ana Torrent in Spirit of the Beehive, Tanaka Kinuyo in the Life of Oharu, Naomi Watts in Mulholland Dr, James Stewart in Vertigo, well lots of other contenders, but none irrefutably outshines his ever so engaging wise dignity.
I just got back from attending a screening of Seven Samurai at the theater. Magnificent. Simply magnificent. I think this is the fifth time I’ve seen this film, and it really does get better each time. Hell, I just watched it two days ago on DVD because I was so impatient to see it today. Still, that did not diminish today’s viewing pleasure or expectations in the least. I was still enthralled for every moment of it.
The DVD on a good television provides a wonderful picture. It’s much crisper, clearer, and more consistent than seeing it on film (and I can’t even imagine what it would be like on Blu-ray!). But it still can’t beat the experience of seeing it at the theater. Even with the graininess and imperfections, including the projectionist having to adjust the focus on occasion, there is just something more pleasingly romantic about seeing a film—especially one this remarkable—on the silver screen. It may just be those imperfections, as well as the grandness of scale of the image, that add to the allure of the theater
Also, it was fun to see it with a crowd and to share their reactions to what happens on the screen. When watching it alone the humorous scenes elicit a chuckle or two, but with a crowd those chuckles turn into giggles and giggles into guffaws. There are also the gasps and the moments of spellbound silence.
A testament to how great this film is how it doesn’t feel like an epic-length feature. It is well paced, one scene flows into another, and the story just rolls along. I’ve thought before that Kurosawa films are more about simply enjoying the journey rather than reaching a destination. I don’t think any film, even of Kurosawa’s, epitomizes that sentiment in the way Seven Samurai does.
Skyler Klingenberg
Co-written and directed by Akira Kurosawa, Seven Samurai is claimed to be the first “lets get a bunch of kick-ass guys together and bust some shit up” type of film. Which lead the way for The Dirty Dozen, Ocean’s Eleven, The Three Amigos and even my favorite childhood show, The A-Team. Not to mention the western remake of the film, The Magnificent Seven.
The comedy in this film is one of the first things that really struck me. The very slapstick physical humor caught me off guard at first, but it played nicely throughout offering a relief from the tension. An early scene about seventeen minutes in showing the villagers sent to find samurai seems to be a big influence on the notorious band photo where everyone is looking in a different direction. Classic.
There were many great performances, but none could even compare to Toshirō Mifune in the role of Kikuchiyo. Ranging from humorous and psychotic to sympathetic and vunerable, the viewer can’t help be mesmerized by his every action. He was the only one of the seven who was not a true samurai and carried a big chip on his shoulder throughout. One of the other samurai makes a banner for their small group were each samurai is represented by a circle, except for Kikuchiyo who was jokingly represented by a triangle (you can see this on the DVD cover pictured above). Which is possibly going to be my next tattoo, minus the kanji at the bottom (I already got my bad kanji tattoo when I was 18, never again).
The film was beutifuly shot. Kurosawa has a wonderful eye for staging and is a master at using forground, midground, and background in his shots. The relationships and dynamics between all the characters are constantly changing and pulsing, dealing with everything from young love to redemption. One of the last shots of the film showing the samurai together will haunt you for days to come.
Seven Samurai was a film on my must-see list for a few years now. I couldn’t tell you why it’s taken me this long to see, with my intense love of Asian cinema and epic battle scenes. This film is absolutely brilliant! If you’ve never seen it and it’s on your list, bump it to the top.
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