seven samurai from twitter
Added 1/31/2010
i received a link from the criterion guys on twitter after mentioning Seven Samurai in a tweet. I tweeted that i was so mad because i realized, during a conversation, that i could no longer find my copy. i received the product with in just a few days. very good price as well
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Regularly cited as the greatest Japanese film of all time for a reason
Added 1/30/2010
In 16th century Japan, protracted feudal wars have created a prevailing sense of lawlessness. Bandits have organized into formidable armies that scavenge the countryside in search of villages to loot. One morning, a band of thieves arrive at the outskirts of a farming community, but is persuaded to delay their attack until the barley has been harvested. A peasant farmer overhears their plan, and summons the villagers for a town meeting. The farmers seek counsel from the village elder (Kuninori Todo) who advises them to hire "hungry samurai" who would protect their village in exchange for meals. But the task of finding formidable samurais who will accept such a meager compensation proves to be a difficult task. One day, the farmers witness a middle-aged ronin (masterless samurai) named Kambei Shimada (Takashi Shimura) single-handedly rescue an abducted child by relying solely on his cunning intelligence and precise technical skill. Kambei has grown weary of fighting, but the plight of the farmers wins his sympathy, and he agrees to take up their seemingly hopeless cause. Kambei's victory also attracts the attention of a young man named Katsushiro Okamoto (Isao Kimura), who asks to become his disciple, and a brash, overconfident drifter (Toshiro Mifune), who is eager to match his skills with the seasoned samurai. Despite the time constraint and lack of reward, Kambei assembles a team of capable, altruistic samurais: a dedicated colleague, Shichiroji (Daisuke Kato), willing to face death for his dear friend; an agile, confident samurai, Gorobei (Yoshio Inaba), touched by Kambei's sincerity and generosity; a cheerful, but average swordsman, Heihachi (Minoru Chiaki), whose experience often involves fleeing from battle; an expert swordsman, Kyuzo (Seiji Miyaguchi), seeking to hone his craft. With the crop harvest imminent, the samurais must fortify the farming village, devise a combat strategy to counter the invasion, and train the peasants for battle.
Seven Samurai is an engaging, precisely crafted story of selfless bravery, perseverance, and fraternity. Using medium shots and seamless, slow motion in order to temper the violence of death, Akira Kurosawa succeeds in creating a delicate juxtaposition between the samurais' graceful art of combat and the barbaric reality of war: Kambei's rescue of the abducted child; the fencing challenge in an open field; the arrival of the bandits on horseback for the decisive battle. But the mastery of the film lies beyond the fluid choreography of the battle sequences. Seven Samurai is an equally compelling tale of poverty and despair, redemption and purpose, community and heroism - a sweeping, epic portrait of individual courage and the tenacity of the human soul.
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"The deepest friendship often comes from a chance meeting"
Added 1/17/2010
This highly influential 1954 film can be interpreted in various different ways - as a straightforward action strategy film, an emotional drama, a period piece, and so on. I myself see it primarily as a film about the conflict between the warrior and peasant classes in medieval Japan.
Put simply, the story concerns a village under threat from bandits, who hire seven freelance Samurai to protect them. The two main themes of the film concern the Samurai strategy to defend the village, and the interactions between the Samurai and the farmers (often fraught with tension).
The villagers, it should be mentioned, lack honour. They are too cowardly to fight the bandits, although they have murdered several lone Samurai in the past.
Once the services of the seven warriors are no longer required, they are the ignored by the villagers, no longer part of the community. "The winners are those farmers...not us," says the Samurai leader Kambei, as the camera pans to a burial mound for the dead warriors.
Something I found intriguing was the number of different camera angles Kurosawa comes up with to view this small peasant village. Every time we see it, it looks different. Another thing I really liked was the observation that "the deepest friendship often comes about through a chance meeting."
Kurosawa was criticised in Japan for being too Western, just as his contemporary Yukio Mishima was - yet both Mishima and Kurosawa were an integral part of the psyche of Japan (the Asian country which most easily assimilates foreign culture, although still maintaining its racial homogeneity).
Some viewers may find the three hour length of the movie off-putting, but can always stop for an interval halfway through. Time restraints are no reason to avoid watching a classic.
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A Masterpiece
Added 12/26/2009
Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai is a wonderful piece of work which has inspired great American films from The Magnificent Seven to A Bug's Life. The new remastered version is a much better copy than previous versions.
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One of the greats...
Added 9/30/2009
A cinematic giant, now on DVD.
Probably the best movie to ever come from the east, and the basis for some of the great American westerns.
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