"Seven Samurai" (Language - Japanese) (1954) - Movie Classic

When a film is made at particular time period and the future generations get to watch it, there is lot of details and scenarios which goes away with the time passed by. If a movie not only retains it originality and novelty, but also transforms itself unintentionally along with the time passed, then there is a classic. Akira Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai” not only invents and show cases the techniques which are getting followed till date, but also stands tall with its concept and film making unique ness.

The villagers are going to get attacked by the bandits after the harvesting and they hire seven samurai to defend them. One line. That’s it. That’s all I took to summarize the story. It is extremely tough and I would go ahead and say almost impossible to generate an interesting and unique three and half hour movie out of it today. The film starts right off from the first frame with the bandits setting themselves the time to strike the village. One farmer overhears and then the village people get advice from the patriarch to hire Samurais to defend them. Four villagers set out to hire their defenders for their village.

The movie builds up so much on its foundation, detailing the process of defending a war is an ordeal and it brings the real feeling into the audience. Akira excels in the introduction of each character with finesse and precision. This is the strong point of Akira; making the character friendly and earn respect from the audience as the other elements in the film does. He did it in “Red Beard” with another totally different surroundings and situation. Here it is with respect to bravery and clever ness. The introduction of the central character, the one who will be recruiting the rest of the six, Kambei Shimada (Takashi Shimura) is the trend setter for an unusual out of the way situation. He asks to shave his head and pose as a priest to save a child who is been held as a hostage by a thief. That sequence is enough to draw out the personality of the character. He is bold, caring, clever and ready to give up his life for a stranger. In the very same manner, with the introduction of each character, there is this employment of showing the in depth characteristics of them and also using the same situation to the advancement in the screenplay as well.

While the movie goes along smoothly with all the six of them very composed and diligent, Akira introduces the funniest yet wild character of Kikuchiyo (Toshirô Mifune). He is animated and at times mad too. Even then he shows interest in assisting the most meager paid and dangerous assignment. An assignment where in death is almost certain and still he goes for it. At the right time, the character shows his agony and anger. A peek in to the madness of this unusual personality. Akira’s movies are by far technically advanced in those periods and still it is. The slow motion, contrast balance with most of the movie shot in natural light and the editing are top notch.

Apart from ahead of time technical improvisation in the film, there is tons of information embedded and explicitly available. For any film, the time taken to describe and emphasize the antagonists is enormous. Sometimes it becomes the revolving factor for many of the successful movies. In this film, the whole concentration is on the villagers and the Seven Samurais. The head of the bandits get two dialogues in this three and half hour movie. Still there is no gap felt. In fact this is another unique technique of story telling. With so much focus on this handful of characters, Akira gives romance, humour, action, thrill, philosophy and brilliant locations.

The film is a classic and there needs to be no more detailed explanation. The usage of natural elements has always been a trademark work in Akira’s and here Asakazu Nakai proves how it can be presented in black and white. The movie carries rain, wind, sun light, amazing water falls, dense forest and the hill side view of the village with clarity and amazement.

There is a particular sequence wherein one of the Samurai, Kikuchiyo tries to ride a mad horse. He some how gets on it and goes victoriously. All the villagers cheer him and he rides with pride. He goes through a series of huts and the audience does not see him as the villagers. After the hut passes by, the horse alone comes running while Kikuchiyo breaks his hip and walks humorously chasing the horse. This sequence is by far the most predictable part in the movie but this is where it was born. When I think about it, I cannot stop laughing and admiring the same time.

“Seven Samurai” as I said in my first paragraph show cases and transforms itself with respect to different generations. When the first viewers would have watched it, they would have been the optimist. They wanted all the Samurais to survive. They would have been hit by tragic and would have empathized with the rest of the characters. Now in this generation, every one is pragmatic and they know that there is going to be loss. And this time, the suspense of who is going to survive drives the viewers to get into watching the movie. But I guess both the generation came out with a slight smile mixed with tragic emotions, yet with some pride in watching the master film maker’s brilliant movie presentation.