Classic International Movie: “Seven Samurai”
October is classic international movies month. Today’s guest post comes from Will King.
Movie Title: Seven Samurai (Shichinin no Samurai).
Year: 1954
Writers: Screenplay by Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto & Hideo Oguni.
Lead Actors: Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima, Daisuke Katô, Isao Kimura, Yoshio Inaba.
Director: Akira Kurosawa.
IMDb Plot Summary: A poor village under attack by bandits recruits seven unemployed samurai to help them defend themselves.
Why I Think This Is A Classic International Movie
A classic is something that leaves a permanent impression on an audience, a culture, a society. It might be notable because it broke ground in some way, or fused an idea or ideal into our collective consciousness. In the case of Seven Samurai, like many other films before and since, it inspired a notable imitation which was not a direct remake, and continues to inspire films and writers.
My Favorite Moment In The Movie
Kikuchiyo enters the story as a clown, a drunken brawler who claims to be a samurai and produces a scroll which purports to demonstrate his family’s noble heritage. When questioned about which item represents him, the other samurai have a good laugh when they realize that the person Kikuchiyo claims to be should only be 13 years old. Undaunted by their rejection, Kikuchiyo follows the group to the remote village determined to prove his worth as a samurai.
It is in the village where Kikuchiyo’s actual history comes to the fore when he becomes agitated by the fears and weaknesses of the farmers. It is in his tirade against the famers that we finally learn that he is the child of farmers, a fact he detests.
KIKUCHIYO: What do you think of farmers? You think they’re saints? Hah! They’re foxy beasts! They say, “We’ve got no rice, we’ve no wheat. We’ve got nothing!” But they have! They have everything! Dig under the floors! Or search the barns! You’ll find plenty! Beans, salt, rice, sake! Look in the valleys, they’ve got hidden warehouses! They pose as saints but are full of lies! If they smell a battle, they hunt the defeated! They’re nothing but stingy, greedy, blubbering, foxy, and mean! God damn it all! (He hurls a handful of arrows into the wall.) But then who made them such beasts? You did! You samurai did it! You burn their villages! Destroy their farms! Steal their food! Force them to labour! Take their women! And kill them if they resist! So what should farmers do? (Kikuchiyo suddenly sinks to his knees, bending his head. He begins to sob uncontrollably.) Damn… damn… damn… damn…
(Kambei unfolds his arms and looks down at the palms of his hands.)
KAMBEI SHIMADA: (Quietly, after a long pause.) You were the son of a farmer, weren’t you?
My Favorite Dialogue In the Movie
While always downplaying his skill as a samurai, Kambei Shimada is a good leader figure, always planning the defense of the village and thinking about how the bandits will attack. His particular skill at strategic thinking is demonstrated by his conversation with Gorobei.
KAMBEI SHIMADA: Take the north. That’s where we’ll battle it out.
GOROBEI KATAYAMA: If you knew that, why didn’t you build a fence there, too?
KAMBEI SHIMADA: Every great castle needs a breach. Draw the enemy there and attack. You can’t win by defense alone.
Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie
Many film aficionados are familiar with the classic American western The Magnificent Seven (1960), but not as many are aware that it was inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 film Seven Samurai. If you have seen The Magnificent Seven, you’ll no doubt recognize many of the characters and scenes as they made their way from Kurosawa’s film to John Sturges’ version.
There are many differences, of course, one of them being length. While the American film runs 128 minutes, Seven Samurai clocks in at 207 minutes (3 hours 27 minutes). While this might seem long by just looking at the running time, the film doesn’t feel long. In fact, it has a more leisurely sense about telling the story. Not confined by modern American concepts about running time and audience fatigue, Kurosawa made a film that doesn’t rush to fit all the needed character development into the first few minutes so he can get on with showing the battle action. Sufficient time is spent revealing the characters as first the desperation of the farmers is developed, and then the team of samurai is assembled. There are false starts, mistakes, uncertain decisions. We get to know these people, their situations, their hopes and fears, their skills and weaknesses as each scene reveals more about them. If anything was left out, it was development of the antagonistic force. In this part of the story, the American film spent time making Calvera a sympathetic villain, whereas the bandit chief and his gang are not much more than violent thugs who provide the need for heroes in Seven Samurai.
The musical score was produced by Fumio Hayasaka. At times the score is beautiful, while at other moments the score seems vaguely reminiscent of a Godzilla soundtrack. (Toho Studios, which produced Seven Samurai, also owns the Godzilla franchise.)
Also of note is the stunning cinematography by Asakazu Nakai. From the opening scene of the bandit horsemen cresting the hills as silhouettes, it is the cinematography that constantly sets the tone of each scene. Nakai beautifully frames shots for emphasis, such as using wooden posts and beams of the building to frame the samurai as they sit quietly watching a drunken Kikuchiyo lash out, or the way Manzo is framed against the reclined form of his sobbing daughter in the background when her affair with Katsushirō is discovered.
Thanks, Will!
To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!
We already have a set of classic 30s movies, 40s movies, 5os movies, 60s Movies, 70s movies, 80s Movies and 90s Movies. This month, we’re working on classic international movies. And thanks to the GITS community, we’ve got at least 22 movies in the works and hopefully more!
Those who I put in bold have already sent me their posts. If you haven’t sent yours to me, please do so as soon as you can!!!
3 Idiots — Abhinav Tiwari
A Prophet — Paul Graunke
Akira — Clay Mitchell
Amelie — Kevin Curran
Belle Epoque — Melinda Mahaffey
Cinema Paradiso — Traci Nell Peterson
Diabolique — Sherin Nicole
Jules et Jim — Susan Winchell
Kolya — Melinda Mahaffey
Lady Vengeance — David Joyner
Millennium Actress — Chris Neumann
OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies — John Henderson
Reprise — Wally Marzano-Lesnevich
Seven Samurai — Will King
The Lives of Others — Paul Graunke
The Tenant — Marija Nielsen
This Man Must Die — Marija Nielsen
NOTE: Looking for more volunteers, your chance to memorialize your favorite international movie and yourself as a contributor to our ongoing blog series on classic movies. Need 4 more volunteers!
Also if you have volunteered and haven’t yet sent me your analysis, please do ASAP. Thanks!
