“Seven
Samurai” is probably the most famous Japanese movie. It was directed by the acclaimed Akiro
Kurosawa and released in 1954. It was
the most expensive Japanese movie up to that time. Although Kurosawa was influenced by Westerns
like those of John Ford, “Seven Samurai” is more influencer than
influenced. Besides the obvious
influence on the remake “Magnificent Seven”, it established several conventions
that became common, especially in American Westerns. One of these is introducing the main
character in an early scene involving an action that will be unrelated to the
main activity dominating the rest of the plot.
Think “Magnificent Seven’s"
taking the body to the graveyard scene.
Second, the reluctant heroes helping people they at first cannot relate
to. Third, one of the heroes falls in
love with a local girl. Lastly, the
wimpy villagers eventually learn to stand up for themselves. Most important, “Seven Samurai” is probably
the first significant movie to have a group of skilled killers recruited for a
suicide mission as in “Guns of Navarone” and “The Dirty Dozen”.
The movie is set in "Warring States" period of
Japan. Because of a lack of central
government and constant civil wars, life is very rough for the lower class. “Land taxes, forced labor, war, drought…
the gods want us farmers dead!” To make
matters worse, bandits are threatening a village. They will be coming back after the harvest. The village elder convinces the peasants
to defend their property and women by hiring some “hungry samurai”. Samurai were the knights of medieval
Japan. The hungry ones are called
“ronin”. They are unemployed because
their lords are dead or out of business.
Some retained the bushido code of the warrior similar to the code of
chivalry, others became bandits.
Some villagers go to town to
find ronin who are willing to take on 40 bandits in exchange for a handful of
rice per day. Most laugh at them, but
they convince a veteran named Kambei to take up their cause. We first meet him cutting off his topknot (a
symbol of samurai status) and balding himself to disguise himself as a monk so
he can rescue a child and kill a child abductor. Here are the other six:
Gorobei –
second in command; smart and likable; expert archer
Shichiroji –
old friend of Kambei
Heihachi
- wood chopper, not a skilled swordsman;
charming
Kyuzo - very skilled swordsman; laconic loner
Katsushiro
- young samurai wannabe who wants to be
a disciple of Kambei
Kikuchiyo
(Toshiro Mifune) – crazy blowhard who insists on coming along
When they arrive, the timid
villagers are hiding, but when Kikuchiyo sounds the alarm they come swarming
out begging for protection from the bandits.
Kikuchiyo lays into them for their hypocrisy and gains the respect of
the others. Later, Kikuchiyo takes up
for the peasants (he was one himself) when they find out the villagers had
killed wandering samurai in the past. He
shames the others by pointing out the buffeting common for peasants.
The samurai supervise
construction of defenses and training of the peasants to help in the
defense (another influential
motif). A romance develops between
Katsushiro and Shino. Her father is
anti-samurai, naturally. Discovery of
the affair results in use of the Japanese word for “slut”. It’s time for action after the leisurely
build-up and character development.
First there is the raid on the bandit camp to cut down the odds. This results in the first subtraction from
the seven.
Soon after, the bandits make
their first attempt on the village.
Although they have a technology advantage with their three muskets (all
the samurai deaths will be by gunfire), the defenses hold and the strategy of
luring bandits to their deaths is effective.
During the night, Kyuzo sneaks off, kills two, returns with a musket and
promptly falls asleep. This dude is one
badass.
In the main attack, the strategy
is to let in one bandit at a time and allow the peasants to finish them with
spears. Even the women participate. Ever the glory-hound, Kikuchiyo infiltrates
the bandit camp and returns with a second musket. While he is gone some of the bandits get
through his position resulting in a crisis.
Kambei scolds him: “There’s
nothing heroic about selfish grabbing of glory.”
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| Kikuchiyo and Kyuzo |
Spoiler Alert: For the final assault, it is
decided to let all the remaining bandits in together. In a driving rainstorm, there is lots of
riding back and forth. Kambei shoots
several with a bow, but the bandit leader hides in a hut and proceeds to kill
numbers three and four before being stabbed to death. As usual in cinema, the death of the leading
villain brings the fighting to a close.
The samurai have won the battle, but the peasants are the
beneficiaries. Kambei: “The victory belongs to the peasants, not to
us.” We leave the village with the
peasants in the fields – the men singing, the women planting.
“Seven Samurai” is justifiably
famous. It is a marvel of
film-making. The cinematography is
outstanding with Kurosawa choreographing multiple cameras. We also see one of the first uses of slow
motion violence. The sound effects are
noteworthy, especially the thundering hooves of horses. The music fits the scenes, but more importantly
there are different themes for the various characters and for the peasants and
the bandits. The acting is fine and each
of the seven has a distinct personality.
You care about them.
The movie is not meant to be
historical, but it is an accurate depiction of the turmoil of the Warring
States period of Japanese history. The
year is 1587 which is in the middle of that long stretch. There were many unemployed samurai roaming
around and the peasantry did suffer greatly from the lack of law and
order. The rigid caste structure
remained which is evident in the gulf between the samurai and the
villagers. It is an uneasy
alliance. Ironically, the movie does not
make it clear that the bandits would have most likely been unemployed samurai
as well. Each of the main characters
(with the exception of Kikuchiyo – Kurosawa created him for comic relief and
told Mifune to run with it) was based on an actual person.
The movie fits well into the war
movie genre partly because of the combat, but also because it is strong on
strategy and tactics. The movie goes out
of its way to clearly outline the samurais’ plans. It is a good study in leadership. Kambei is a good role model. He is stoical in the face of crises. He keeps morale up with humorous jibes. He rubs his head when pondering problems (a
trait Lucas gave Yoda in homage).
The movie is not perfect. It is very long (the original cut was 3
hours, 27 minutes). There is a lot of
frenetic running around. The enemy are
not personified. We know nothing about
their leader, for instance. Some of the
acting is a bit hammy, especially by Mifune.
The running and the acting are pretty typical of old Japanese
movies. The love story is left
unresolved. These weaknesses are some of
the reasons why I feel “The Magnificent Seven” is a superior movie.
Should you read it? If you are ever going to watch a Japanese
movie, this should be your first. It is
a must-see for all fans of cinema.
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