BFI Top 50: Seven Samurai, Released in 1954, Directed by Akira Kurosawa

What I know going in

I am of course aware of the film’s reputation and its basic plot.

 

Immediate thoughts

The main thing I loved about Seven Samurai was how effective it was in invoking ancient Japan. I find that far too many period pieces feel like stars playing dress up and do a poor job of actually evoking the era they are taking place in. Seven Samurai totally avoids that issue. Everything from the set design, to the costumes, and the way the characters act and behave is appropriate for the time the film takes place in. Firstly, all of the characters are always coated in a layer of sweat. That goes a long way to showing how stressed all the heroes are and how dire the situation is for the peasants and the samurai. Thirdly, the movie uses its weather and locations well. The players are always kicking up dust, covered in mud, drenched in water. It gives the movie a very primal feeling. Finally, the film quickly establishes a very brutal tone. The bandits have complete control over the peasants and the villagers quickly realize that their options for survival are severely limited. At the start of the movie, they have three options: give their crops to the bandits and risk starvation, resist and die, or off themselves. Contacting the samurai is a last ditch effort, and the peasants, who all appear hunched over and nearly starved to death, have to give up the very last of their rice.

 

I also appreciated how Seven Samurai was able to balance the epic and humanistic aspects of its story. It is widely considered, along with Lawrence of Arabia, one of the best epic films in history, and rightly so. It uses long running time (three and a half hours) to set up the conflict of the villagers and slowly show the process of finding the samurai, rallying everyone, and preparing the defenses. That buildup helps to make the final showdown really impactful. However, none of the action comes at the cost of forgetting the characters. There are many smaller moments in Seven Samurai that help develop our protagonists. A great example is the scene where the samurai discover the peasants have killed warriors to steal their equipment. Kikuchiyo launches into a spirited defense of the villagers, which is captured in a single, long close-up, and reveals his own tragic past. There is also a stunning moment where one of the peasants kills a bandit and just stares in shocked disbelief at what he has done. It is a good reminder that these people are not hardened badasses.

 

Of course, no discussion of Seven Samurai is complete without talking about the action. The final battle is amazing, but there are few stellar moments before that. The best is probably Kyuzo’s (my favorite of the seven) introduction. He is shown in a duel with a stranger who is mad about losing a bamboo struggle. Kyuzo patiently positions himself and strikes decisively as the stranger charges wildly at him. It is a neat moment and sets up Kyuzo as the cool, silent one of the bunch. However, that quiet scene is nothing compared to the wildness of the ending. Kurosawa is in absolute command during the battle scenes. He summons up huge crowds of peasants and samurai that contract and expand organically around the enemy bandits. The final confrontation is a constant flurry of spears, blades, arrows, horses, bodies, and bullets. It is truly awesome. If all that was not enough, Kurosawa even adds a rainstorm to the end to give it that extra kick.

 

Further thoughts

One of the more interesting I discovered while researching the film is just how much other movies have stolen from Seven Samurai. Its basic concept has been used in everything from westerns (The Magnificent Seven), war films (The Dirty Dozen), comedies (Three Amigos), and animated films (A Bug’s Life). Furthermore its character types have been appropriated innumerable times. Star Wars seems to directly plagiarize its main characters from Kurosawa’s film, with Obi-Wan Kenobi as the wizened leader (Kambei), Luke Skywalker as the naïve hero (Katsushiro), and Han Solo as the reluctant hero full of bravado (Kikuchiyo). BobaFett is even a bit reminiscent of the stony silence of Kyuzo.

 

Despite all the copy-cats, Seven Samurai remains, to this day, an engaging watch. There are two main aspects of the film that ensure it will always remain relevant. First, the bleakness of the situation is never forgotten and the violence is never cathartic or enjoyable. Even the bandits, who are ostensibly the villains, die messy, ignoble deaths. Most of them dispatched by bamboo spear (which really looks like an awful way to die), shot in the back, or burned to death. The way the bandits are treated gives the film a little extra heft, and instead of being a standard action picture it become a commentary on the brutal nature of ancient Japan.

 

The second aspect that keeps Seven Samurai freshis Kurosawa’s complex compositions which frequently involve multiple planes of action. A great example is when the samurai spot some bandits lurking around the camp. The camera is set behind the samurai as they peer out of a house at the bandits who are also peering into the camp. Kurosawa uses these compositions to express the themes of his film. One of the final shots is of the three remaining samurai standing below the graves of the slain comrades. The living samurai are at the very bottom of the frame and the graves are at the very top. This suggests that the fallen samurai’s willing sacrifice in the name of honor has allowed them to move on to a higher status.

 

Why is the film on this list?

Seven Samurai is an epic, yet humanistic film that fully displays Kurosawa’s immense talent. Often copied, but never eclipsed, it remains as powerful as the day it was first released.