Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai. Starring Toshiro Mifune,Takashi Shimura, et al. (1954)

Film Review And Summery. Spoilers Included.

Summery

The film takes place in a mountain village during ancient Japan’s Samurai era. The first act begins with the village being robbed and pillaged by a group of militarized bandits, and it is established that the bandits have terrorized the village before and continue to do so on a fairly regular basis. One of the townsmen is sent to recruit a Samurai Ronin (elder), who agrees to help protect the village in exchange for food and shelter, and recruits six other Samurai to join him. The Samurai travel to the village and the remainder of the first act is spent establishing each of the different characters background and traits.

The second act starts with The Samurai capturing three scouts for the bandits. One of the bandits eventually gives up the location of their hideout, and The Samurai proceed to attack the hideout at night by burning down their compound which kills many but forces survivors to regroup. Despite the victory at the fortress, 20 bandits remain and proceed to attack the village multiple times throughout the second act. The Samurai continuously drive the bandits away with the help of a newly formed militia of farmers. At the final battle, only 13 bandits remain yet kill 4 of the samurai in the heat of battle. Eventually the bandit leaders are killed in combat and the villagers win their homeland back.

The film concludes with the remaining samurai mourning the loss of their brothers in arms while also acknowledging the victory for the farmers.

The film’s mood changes frequently throughout the film, with horse riding slapstick scenes acting as the comic relief which offsets the intensity and violence of the battle scenes.

Textbook Reference

The authors of A Brief History of Film note that Seven Samurai went on to serve as a template for several American Western Films such as 1960’s The Magnificent Seven, and continues to influence the action/adventure film genre to this day (204).

Personal Thoughts/Impressions

Overall, I throughly enjoyed this film and it became apparent to me within the first 20 minutes, just why Seven Samurai is considered a groundbreaking classic. The Cinematography and battle scene choreography still holds up well in my opinion even by today’s standards. My only complaint towards this film is the character names were hard to remember, thus making it difficult to keep track of everyone. This was most likely due to my lack of knowledge of the Japanese language, but this will not prevent me from watching this film again, and hopefully enjoying it even more!

Thanks for reading! This was a short essay I wrote for a Film History course in college! I had fun writing it, and I hope you enjoyed reading it!