This is a Samurai film (seriously, if you didn't guess that by the title then you need help) that is highly influenced by the Hollywood western, and which then subsequently went on to influence the Hollywood western just as highly. It is often imitated, frequently referenced, and always held in reverence. Seven Samurai (Original title: Shichinin no Samurai) is about as close to a perfect work of film making as may be made.
Which is why my head nearly exploded when I heard that there are rumors that a direct remake is being worked on, slated for 2014 release, called The Seven Samurai. This would be a sacrilege of the highest order. Want to make the story into a western? Fine. Use the idea to film a science fiction epic? Sure, I'd love to see it. Try to do a musical version? I'd question your sanity, but go ahead and try. But to think you can improve on it? At this point I cry foul. It's like saying you could improve on The Godfather or Casablanca.
Here's an idea Hollywood: leave the great films alone and try to make something original.
Anyway, back to Seven Samurai. Let's discuss how things can't get much better, shall we?
Which leads us to the cast. Samurai is built on the strength of the titular seven, so it is rather important that they work for the film. And work they do. The seven are anchored by the acting skill of Takashi Shimura, a veteran of Japanese cinema and many, many other Kurosawa directed movies. Seriously, this guy is in everything Japanese during that period, from Godzilla right through Ikiru. Shimura plays Kambei, an aged Samurai and master tactician, one who embodies the highest ideals of the Samurai (more on this in a bit).
The other standout is Toshiro Mifune who plays Kikuchiyo, a man out of his caste. Born a farmer's son, Kikuchiyo has rejected such a life and is trying to pass himself off as a Samurai, a task not easily done. Kikuchiyo is brash, full of fire, loud, and rude. He is everything a Samurai is not, except for his heart. Coupled with Kambei, the two characters play off each other and the rest of the cast amazingly well. The rest of the actors are wonderful as well, doing stellar work and earning the praise they've garnered.
In Seven Samurai a small peasant village hires, you guessed it, seven samurai to protect them from bandits. It is here that we begin to see a bit of the theme. You see, farmers in feudal Japan had a particular lot in life. They were the backbone of society, growing the food that fed all people. But they had no option for defending themselves. Should the higher casts demand something, the rules of society dictate that the farmers comply. So farmers often bore the brunt of the system's abuses. Lords would heavily tax them. Samurai, the warrior caste that comprised about 5% of the population, would come and take whatever they would want. Farmers were simply expected to endure.
But there is only so much a human being can endure. Once bandits enter the mix, pillaging the crops and stealing their women, the strain becomes too much. So they seek for protectors, samurai who would help them fight off the bandits when they return. The farmers have begun to reject society's expectation; they want to stand up for themselves.
The only problem is this: how will a poor farming town afford to hire samurai? They have no money to offer, and there is nothing else they have to give that might entice talented warriors. The solution offered by the village elder? "Find hungry samurai!"
So what kind of samurai will you find? Will the ones you hire even be worth the rice you give? Well, whether by chance -or fate -the farmers find samurai who will help. Kambei is the first they encounter, and he is introduced in a way that furthers the theme. A thief holes himself up in a barn with a young child as a hostage. Kambei offers to rescue the child, asking only for a monk to lend him his robes and shave his head.
Right there we have the unthinkable. Samurai are a privileged caste, even when they do not serve a liege-lord (those samurai without a feudal master are called "ronin," or a free samurai. This is not a good situation for a samurai, as they then become either mercenaries or bandits. All seven of our samurai are ronin.). The physical characteristics that distinguish a samurai are twofold: first, there is the sword -only samurai were permitted in that society to bear a weapon. Second, samurai wore a topknot in their hair. So the incredulity of the people, including the farmers, is understandable when we see Kambei cutting off his topknot, having his head shaved like a monk, and giving up his sword in his attempt to rescue the boy.
He has rejected every characteristic that marks a samurai. He has, in a way, killed himself to save another. Here then is the message: the true samurai is not the one who is simply born in a caste, nor the one who looks the part or carries the badge of honor. The true samurai is marked by honor, not by symbol, and the honor is defined as the willingness to protect others, even at great cost to himself, even at the cost of his life.
The farmers ask, and Kambei accepts the task of protecting the village. He begins to recruit using a rather odd selling point: "A difficult battle is coming leading neither to riches nor position. Will you join us?" How could such an offer be accepted? Yet accept they do, bringing the total to seven protectors for the village. You see, samurai, at heart, are supposed to serve the people. Once again the message rings out: a true samurai does not work for reward nor recognition; a true samurai sacrifices that others might live.
The middle part of the film is the training of the farmers to fight and preparing the defense. And then the battle begins in earnest, encompassing several days.
But overall, the film remains remarkably human. As the final battle winds to a dizzying conclusion, as enemy and friend alike fall, Katsushiro -the youngest of the seven -runs around in frantic confusion; "Where are the bandits?!! Where are the bandits?!!" To this Kambei replies with a gruff "All dead!" Hearing this reply, Katsushiro breaks down. He wails and weeps in a surprising display of raw emotion. In this cry can be heard the relief of victory, the lament for fallen comrades, and even a touch of remorse that so many enemies had to die. He is the warrior who protects the innocent, yet regrets the need for force.
So Kambei concludes with one of the most wrenching, ironic closing lines a movie ever had: "In the end, we lost this battle too. What I mean is, the victory belongs to these peasants, not to us." Four of the seven lie dead. The others will pass away sooner or later, whether in battle or by natural death. But the farmers ascend, the people flourish. An entire caste will give itself for the other; the samurai diminish, but the people will rise.
We must also remember that Akira Kurosawa made his masterpiece at a pivotal point in Japanese history. The Allied occupation of Japan was over following Japan's loss in world war 2, and the population was trying to understand itself in the light of its history. The Bushido code, the way of the warrior the samurai followed, had failed them, hadn't it? They lost the war, and now will they lose their identity? Will their great history and heroes fade away into a lost and obsolete past?
With Seven Samurai Kurosawa seeks to cast a new ideal, to reinterpret the failure of the world war. Bushido did not fail, the samurai ideal was not found lacking; rather, the Bushido had been hijacked. Kurosawa reinterpreted Bushido. It should not be the WW2 concept of "might makes right." It is not as a call to oppress; that is the abuse of the honorable ideal. Rather, Kurosawa recast the samurai as an ideal defined by a higher honor. Might does not make right; instead, what is right should be the only end might is used to defend. The honorable warrior does not seek glory for himself; he seeks for the protection of the vulnerable.
Kurosawa found nothing lacking in the moral strength of his society; he instead found lacking the abuse and twisting of the ideal to suit political purpose. With Seven Samurai he sought to tell a tale that would hold up a selfless sacrifice as the height of heroism.
And he succeeded marvelously. Clearly, Kurosawa was a master of his craft, producing a moving, exciting, thought-provoking, and technically brilliant film. His every decision seemed to be right, from every camera angle, to the close up shots (and there are many), to the editing techniques, everything came together beautifully.
The acting is splendid, and full of neat touches (no doubt influenced by Kurosawa's direction). For example, Kambei's hair grows over the course of the film after he has it shaved at the beginning. As it grows, we will often see him absentmindedly rub his head, as though his scalp itches or he just misses the topknot. It's the little touches such as those that help us relate to the characters and see their small quirks.
Needless to say, I urge everyone to see and love this film. Yes, it is black and white. Yes, it is in Japanese, with English subtitles. Yes, it is long. All these things seem to keep the average American from caring about great films. Don't let it stop you. This is as good as they come, a true masterpiece and work of art. Seven Samurai is simultaneously one of the most entertaining, best constructed, and most important films of all time.
Entertainment: 10/10
Artistic Value: 10/10
Technical Merit: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
P.S. If you want to own this movie, I highly recommend the Criterion Collection edition (picture to the right). The restoration job Criterion did makes the whole film feel new again, giving us the original aspect ratio, a crisp and clean picture, and wonderful sound. It's worth the extra few bucks.
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