Post by legios on Aug 17, 2008 20:42:26 GMT
I had the pleasure of seeing this again, for the first time in a good few years, this weekend. As I am sure many of you know "Seven Samurai" was remade (albeit, unauthorisedly) as "The Magnificent Seven", and at first glance the plot "village threatened by bandits hires wandering warriors to defend it" doesn't seem to promise much more than a movie with some fights in it. There is, however, more to the film than that.
That is not to say that we don't get some superb battle scenes, in Kurosawa's hands the battles between the Samurai-led villagers and the bandits are pacy, credible (lack of blood notwithstanding) and appropriatly chaotic at times. But there is a lot more to the film than this. At the same time as it is presenting its surface plot the film is casting its eye of the social stratification of the culture of the time. The film does not allow you to forget that there is a wide social gulf between the Samurai and the villagers - the villagers fear the Samurai and the Samurai disdain them in return. Yet Kurosawa is also quick to remind us that these Samurai live lives that can end swiftly and violently, and likely will, and that for all their social position it is they who are willing to come to the village and risk their lives for no payment other than being fed. The final lines of the film, mirrored in the remake, that in the end it is the peasants who have won, because they at least have the land whilst the surviving Samurai have nothing has extra weight here - mostly because the rest of the film has done such a good job of showing us this before we are told.
I have a soft-spot both for the work of Akira Kurosawa, who I do think is a superb director, anyway and of course this film dates from the period when he worked extensively with Toshiro Mifune
and Takashi Shimura - both actors of outstanding caliber. The end result is one of those films where it just feels that everything has come together as well as it ever could.
It is an superbly paced film, despite being three hours long it (3:06 or thereabouts) it doesn't feel drawn out or unnecessarily slow. Every moment of the film has a purpose, whether it is to exposit character, examine the relationships between the Samurai and the villagers, or to have a bit of comic relief. Toshiro Mifune gets the lions share of this, as Kikuchiyo. He puts in a wonderful performance, starting from a slightly buffonish figure, revealed to be a peasant who has stolen the equipment and papers of a dead Samurai to escape his old life. It is a testament to his skill as an actor that Mifune is not only convincing in that aspect of the role, but is able to turn the performance around and be absolutely mesmeric in the moment that he berates the Samurai for their distrust and disdain for the villagers, reminding them that whatever the villagers are it is Samurai that have made them that way. The stand-out performance of the film, and perhaps the stand-out performances of Mifune's career - at the very least on a par with his nameless wandering swordsman in Yojimbo.
Shimura is, however, the centre around which the film pivots. He brings a sense of depth and maturity to the role, projecting both the confidence of the seasoned warrior and the weariness of a man grown old living by his sword. One of those actors who can simply own a scene just by virtue of being in it, but is secure enough that he doesn't need to and is happy to allow other actors the limelight (which paradoxically makes his performance even stronger).
Fortunately the rest of the cast are up to the challenge of working with these strong performances, and the whole is a wonderful example of ensemble playing.
Kurosawa's direction is superb. His scene composition is absolutely marvellous Lacking the operatic flourishes of some of his later work such as "Ran" or "Kagemusha" this is a more matter-of-fact film, and is the stronger for it. Showing the same facility for blending comedy with drama that he showed in "Yojimbo" the tones are balanced finely. You will almost certainly laugh numerous times during the film, likely as not you will be unsettled as often. The staging is superb for the films age, the battle scenes particularly are surprisingly complex and active affairs with flurries of onscreen action cut together in a way that gives it more pace and impact than a lot of modern movies.
If I had to chose I would take "Seven Samurai" over "The Magnificent Seven" without a doubt. It demands more of a time investment, but the rewards are well worth it. Kurosawa is a director whose work has been liberally plundered by directors in the west and "Seven Samurai" demonstrates why - he is a director whose mastery of the fundamentals of cinema is acute, working with actors whose skill at their craft shines through.
That was three hours of my life very well spent. There is just one thing, one fear that has been realised. I knew that if I rented I was likely to end up looking to buy it, and so it has come to pass. Come pay-day I shall be most likely laying down the money for it.
Karl
That is not to say that we don't get some superb battle scenes, in Kurosawa's hands the battles between the Samurai-led villagers and the bandits are pacy, credible (lack of blood notwithstanding) and appropriatly chaotic at times. But there is a lot more to the film than this. At the same time as it is presenting its surface plot the film is casting its eye of the social stratification of the culture of the time. The film does not allow you to forget that there is a wide social gulf between the Samurai and the villagers - the villagers fear the Samurai and the Samurai disdain them in return. Yet Kurosawa is also quick to remind us that these Samurai live lives that can end swiftly and violently, and likely will, and that for all their social position it is they who are willing to come to the village and risk their lives for no payment other than being fed. The final lines of the film, mirrored in the remake, that in the end it is the peasants who have won, because they at least have the land whilst the surviving Samurai have nothing has extra weight here - mostly because the rest of the film has done such a good job of showing us this before we are told.
I have a soft-spot both for the work of Akira Kurosawa, who I do think is a superb director, anyway and of course this film dates from the period when he worked extensively with Toshiro Mifune
and Takashi Shimura - both actors of outstanding caliber. The end result is one of those films where it just feels that everything has come together as well as it ever could.
It is an superbly paced film, despite being three hours long it (3:06 or thereabouts) it doesn't feel drawn out or unnecessarily slow. Every moment of the film has a purpose, whether it is to exposit character, examine the relationships between the Samurai and the villagers, or to have a bit of comic relief. Toshiro Mifune gets the lions share of this, as Kikuchiyo. He puts in a wonderful performance, starting from a slightly buffonish figure, revealed to be a peasant who has stolen the equipment and papers of a dead Samurai to escape his old life. It is a testament to his skill as an actor that Mifune is not only convincing in that aspect of the role, but is able to turn the performance around and be absolutely mesmeric in the moment that he berates the Samurai for their distrust and disdain for the villagers, reminding them that whatever the villagers are it is Samurai that have made them that way. The stand-out performance of the film, and perhaps the stand-out performances of Mifune's career - at the very least on a par with his nameless wandering swordsman in Yojimbo.
Shimura is, however, the centre around which the film pivots. He brings a sense of depth and maturity to the role, projecting both the confidence of the seasoned warrior and the weariness of a man grown old living by his sword. One of those actors who can simply own a scene just by virtue of being in it, but is secure enough that he doesn't need to and is happy to allow other actors the limelight (which paradoxically makes his performance even stronger).
Fortunately the rest of the cast are up to the challenge of working with these strong performances, and the whole is a wonderful example of ensemble playing.
Kurosawa's direction is superb. His scene composition is absolutely marvellous Lacking the operatic flourishes of some of his later work such as "Ran" or "Kagemusha" this is a more matter-of-fact film, and is the stronger for it. Showing the same facility for blending comedy with drama that he showed in "Yojimbo" the tones are balanced finely. You will almost certainly laugh numerous times during the film, likely as not you will be unsettled as often. The staging is superb for the films age, the battle scenes particularly are surprisingly complex and active affairs with flurries of onscreen action cut together in a way that gives it more pace and impact than a lot of modern movies.
If I had to chose I would take "Seven Samurai" over "The Magnificent Seven" without a doubt. It demands more of a time investment, but the rewards are well worth it. Kurosawa is a director whose work has been liberally plundered by directors in the west and "Seven Samurai" demonstrates why - he is a director whose mastery of the fundamentals of cinema is acute, working with actors whose skill at their craft shines through.
That was three hours of my life very well spent. There is just one thing, one fear that has been realised. I knew that if I rented I was likely to end up looking to buy it, and so it has come to pass. Come pay-day I shall be most likely laying down the money for it.
Karl