Before starting my review, let me introduce you to the ‘Classical Review’ Series. This is a review series with the goal of reviewing classic films as it is. This is not retrospective. I will review the films like it came out recently, I won’t use things like nostalgia (or for this one my absolute infatuation with Kurosawa and Mifune Films) to cloud my judgment. I might make a retrospective series in the future, but I just want to make it clear that this is not one.

What better movie to start this series than the great ‘Seven Samurai’ (already broke my own rule). For those unfamiliar, Seven Samurai is a movie directed by the legendary Akira Kurosawa which came out in 1954.

Plot

‘Seven Samurai’ has a very straightforward, yet at the time revolutionary plotline of a village terrorized by Bandits which seek out help from wandering Samurai. The introduction of the threat looming is told in a simple, short, and ingenious approach. In a panic, the small village decides to send out representatives to go to a city to look for Samurai to save them from their demise. This exact plot would then have a Hollywood remake 6 years after its release titled The Magnificient Seven

The recruitment arc is one of my favorite in the movie. The pacing here might be a bit slow, but it was time well spent. Their limited time before the bandit attack coupled with the humble reward of rice that the farmers of the village could only give led them to make do with the seven samurais that they gathered to their cause. It’s very amusing to see these samurais with each their own unique personality and background unite to fight the same cause of helping a small village in need.

The arrival of the seven also brings some complications within the population of the village. They fear that the Samurai is a bunch of war mongers who want their wealth and women in exchange for their help. The following reaction of our seven and how one of them dealt with the issue is one of the funniest things I ever saw on cinema. It’s amazing how throughout the movie Kurosawa managed to perfectly mix comedy relief with serious moments. The right combination of these two are something that many directors strive for, so far only this movie managed to pull it off for me. As for the particular moment that I talked about I encourage you to watch the movie and have a genuine laugh yourself.

Their preparation for the bandits takes up a considerable portion of the movie’s duration. But again, the three hours duration is perfectly paced to be enjoyable to watch, and this is one of the stands out for this movie. It’s highly pleasurable to watch everyone banding together and formulate a strong defense around the village. Famers and Samurai, working together to create traps, walls, and strategies.

In a sub-plot we also see a romance developing between a farmer girl and one of the samurai. Their encounters didn’t feel out of place, as they both represent the two different classes which exist in feudal Japan, the peasants, and the nobles. Their romance would then develop so the movie can deliver issues which relate to our current time such as sexism. It’s a good approach to express the social issues that exist at the time (some of which are still happening now).

The battle sequences are probably one of the best you’ll ever see in a movie. Not by scale, but by its pure magnificence. Kurosawa’s fighting scenes are known to be extremely fast, ruthless, and swift. My favorite battle scenes of his are in his nameless ronin movies which are Yojimbo and Sanjuro . All the actors have past swordsmanship experience. This translates very well into the scenes which create a realistic, yet still spectacular sword choreography. These cool battle scenes are then complemented by the ingenious strategies that they used to beat the odds of fighting a fully armed band of bandits.

Perhaps the best part of ‘Seven Samurai’ is its conclusion. I won’t give anything away, but after the ending, I always start to contemplate and reflect on my life, truly wondering what could I do to make myself better. It’s not an understatement to say that this movie might change your outlook on life, as it did with cinema.

Characters

It’s not the amazing battle scenes or just pure samurai badassery that truly makes this movie great, but it’s the absolutely wonderful cast of characters.

In the early days of cinema, many actors have a background of acting in traditional theaters and plays. I believe this is one of the reasons why in films like ‘Seven Samurai’ one will really feel the intensity of the characters. Kurosawa did an amazing job of making sure every character have their own personality and depth in a way that allows a clear and noticeable character development as you follow the story.

These characters literally revolutionized cinema, as it is the one that popularized the concept of multiple characters who may not have known each other prior unite to take on a common goal or mission. Viewers will find themselves getting attached to each character and being worried for their well-being. They’re one of the most memorable characters you’ll find in a film.

Kikuchiyo (Toshiro Mifune) is the rude, reckless, and cocky Samurai of the group. He acted as the comedy relief within the seven. That doesn’t rule out that he has a lot of depth to his character, as he has a dark and secret past that he hid. Mifune’s performance in this is absolutely incredible. If you see his more serious movie such as Yojimbo then you wouldn’t believe that he played Kikuchiyo in this one. This demonstrates his amazing ability to completely immerse himself in character, expressing whatever emotion that Kurosawa wanted his character to have in any scenes. His rude outer act comes with a soft inside , as he found himself being the village children’s favorite Samurai. He may be brave and reckless, but he’s the most fragile of the seven.

The leader of the group, Kambei Shimada (Takashi Shimura) acted as the key figure in uniting the seven together. His wise, strategic, and benevolent self is represented by his act and appearance as a monk in disguise with his bald head. After seeing Kambei in action, a young aspiring Samurai named Katsuhiro (Isao Kimura) pleaded to be his student. He’s a person that’s still naive but is truly determined to be a true Samurai. His romance with the village girl Shino (Keiko Tsushima) would then bring many trouble and tension to the relationship between the villagers and the seven. At first, the deadly silent Samurai Kyuzo (Seiji Miyaguchi) might seem like someone who’s just thirsty for blood and war, someone who joined their cause just to kill the bandits. The story, however, would reveal that he’s more than meets the eye, someone who has thrown out his ego and pride in order to dispense justice. Unexpectedly, he became one of my favorite.

There are no villain characters in this story. There are the bandits, but they’re there just to serve the purpose of being the conflict of the movie. We see the whole movie in the point of view of our characters. This is brilliant in itself since it shows that Kurosawa wants this movie not to be just a blockbuster action movie with epic battles. The movie does have those things, but the main focuses are these characters and how they play in the story.

Visuals

The cinematography of Kurosawa’s films is one of the reasons he’s so well known around the world, with this movie being the one which truly takes it to the world stage. His shots have a clear beginning, middle and end. And it heavily focuses on movement. A camera would show a close-up of the character, the surrounding environment, and follows the character into the next scene. One of why Kurosawa is highly regarded is because of his editing, which at the time was very impressive. His cuts are very subtle and smooth, which creates the illusion of a continuous shot, which in reality are multiple different shots edited smoothly into one.

Weather and nature are very prevalent in his shots. This creates a very beautiful visual which sometimes draws our eyes away from the scene. Japan’s traditional theater background might have a role in how his characters act. Every emotion is expressed exaggeratedly, you can tell how a character is feeling in a Kurosawa movie just by their movements. Kurosawa doesn’t need dialogue to convey emotion. He doesn’t want to tell you how you should feel about the scene, but how the scene naturally affects your emotions without saying anything. If you want to know more about how Kurosawa directed his movies, I highly recommend the youtube channel Every Frame A Painting, as I’m certain he can explain it better than me.

Verdict

While it might seem like ‘Seven Samurai’ is just a Samurai film where the hero defeats the bad guys and do some cool sword fighting, the actual film is different from that. It’s a movie about social issues and characters which are blended perfectly in the perfect combination of aspects that every film has. It changed cinema forever, and it truly did change my life too in the process. Its long 207 minutes of duration is perfectly paced to be highly enjoyable for everyone watching. ‘Seven Samurai’ is a timeless masterpiece which will be continuously studied in the future, as it is the kind of film that aspiring film directors should strive for.

10/10- The Most Memorable Masterpiece Of Cinema

This is the nature of war. By protecting others, you save yourselves.- Kambei Shimada