(Eng: The Seven Samurai). Dir: Akira Kurasawa -
Its been one year now since I started this blog and in all that time I've reviewed quite a few films and books. To celebrate my first anniversary I decided to watch 'The Seven Samurai' just so as I could review it and give it five stars. I love this film. Its in my all time top four favourite films and sometimes I think it really ought to be in first place. Its 207 minutes of pure poetry.
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I've never been able to analyze it though. Even watching it as I type, I'm not able to understand why its so good. It just is. I love it. Its like a window into a fairy tale in my minds eye, complete with that real 'Samurai vibe'. Kambei Shimada is the perfect samurai officer, humble, competent and generous, he is like the embodiment of all I could ever wish to be.
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I've never been able to analyze it though. Even watching it as I type, I'm not able to understand why its so good. It just is. I love it. Its like a window into a fairy tale in my minds eye, complete with that real 'Samurai vibe'. Kambei Shimada is the perfect samurai officer, humble, competent and generous, he is like the embodiment of all I could ever wish to be.
Its odd to think this film was made only a decade after Japan was defeated in the second world war. The spirit demonstrated contrasts sharply with the reality described in 'The Knights of Bushido' by Lord Russell and maybe this is because 'The Seven Samurai' is an attempt at redefining Japanese history, and as such is out of step with reality. who knows? That might explain why the film feels so 'unreal'.
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Then of course there is Toshiô Mifune. With a doubt the finest Samurai actor I ever saw, and here in a role which has to have been the greatest of his career.
2 comments:
I like to think of it as a message of hope, that despite losing the War, the Japanese people fought a disciplined fight.
Really?
I see it more as a metaphor for the new Japan. The ending is especially poigniant. Kambei Shimada turns to the other surviving Samurai and notes that it is the farmers who have won, not the Samurai. Its like he's telling them that war is not the way to survive, but farming/industry is.
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