Toshiro Mifune
Nothing beats a well-thought-out plan to ward off bandits. Samurai
movies always showcase the best of swordsmanship, but this movie shows that a
strategic plan is better than a battalion of armed soldiers.
This Japanese adventure drama was co-written and directed by Akira
Kurosawa. The movie’s main flaw is the length and the pacing, there were many
situations in the movie which I felt could have been best summarized, but
instead this movie looks like, they wanted to make sure the used every element
of film shot. This made it hard to fully get engaged with the movie, but if you
do, you will enjoy it.
The film takes place in 1587 and follows the story of a village of
farmers constantly raided by bandits who steal their crops during harvest.
The villagers decide to seek help. They hire seven masterless samurai
(ronin) to defend their village. A veteran samurai, who has fallen on hard
times, answers the call and gathers six others to join him.
The village offers to feed the samurai three small meals a day as
payment.
The seven samurai teach the villagers how to defend themselves, build
fortresses, and remove bridges to restrict the bandits’ entry to a single
route. They also train them to use weapons.
The movie is long and takes its time building up to the village's
defense. But if you can stay awake, you’ll notice the mastery in camera work.
The cinematography is flawless. The editing could use a bit of polish, but the
visuals are just exceptional. My favourite shot was during the rain. You’ll see
how Akira used camera tricks to capture the chaos of battle.
This was Kurosawa’s first samurai film. He originally wanted to film a
single day in the life of a samurai but changed course after finding a story
about samurai defending farmers.
Seven Samurai was one
of the first films to use the now-common trope of gathering a team of heroes to
achieve a specific goal, something that is now common in movie making.
Watching a movie where the bandits never stop to count how many of them
are left is funny. Their numbers kept dropping, and yet they kept attacking. I
kept wondering what they were thinking.
Though made in 1954, the film features some excellent acting. If you
have three hours to spare, grab the DVD. Just try to stay awake till the last
40 minutes. It’s worth it.
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