Reader Recommendation: Seven Samurai (1954)

A friend of mine and twitter user @wjhull suggested that I watch Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai. I don't think I've really seen many samurai movies, most of the foreign films I've seen have been about the Yakuza and gang wars set in fairly modern times. Today seemed as good a time as any to see it, and I was in the mood for a classic film too. What I didn't realized before I started watching it though was that it was a whopping 3 1/2 hours long! This better be good, or this is going to be a long evening. Hit the jump link to see how this classic tale of samurai and farmers all turned out.


The film starts out showing a group of men on horseback surveying a small village from a hilltop. We learn these men are actually bandits and they plan on raiding the small group of homes and farms for their food. Luckily, one of them realizes they had already raided this village not long ago, and so they should come back after the next harvest so they'll actually have something to steal. As they ride off, we see a helpless farmer rise out of the bushes. Having just overheard the whole thing, he runs off to tell the rest of the village the bad news. They only have until the end of the season before the bandits return to figure out a way to defend their homes. A small group heads to the nearest city in a desperate effort to find some samurai who may save them, even though they have no way to pay them.

Obviously from the film's title it's clear this movie is about the seven samurai they need to find to defend their village. The movie takes quite a bit of time to gather all the swordsmen, but it gives us an excellent opportunity to get to know them, and even several of the farmers. Even though this is one of the longest movies I've ever seen, I never actually got bored during the course of it. I can't exactly pinpoint why, but good pacing, good character development as well as some great characters seem to have all worked to keep my attention.

The Seven Samurai

There were a lot of characters between all the samurai and quite a number of farmers, and I liked all of them more or less. If I had to pick some out of the group, I'd say I liked Kyuzo and Kikuchiyo the most. Kyuzo is possibly the most talented of the group, yet he is the quietest as well. He doesn't brag or boast and he is only interested in perfecting his skills. At first he declines the request to join the group, but shows up later for unknown reasons. Perhaps the noble goal finally got to him. Kikuchiyo, however, is the exact opposite. Loud and goofy, he's always sticking out his tongue and acting wild. He certainly doesn't act like any of the other samurai, and while they won't accept him initially, he simply follows them to the village until they do. Of all the samurai, he probably had the most interesting background to his character.

I have to be honest, the story is pretty simple; save the village. But it's the motivations behind all the samurai that keeps it interesting. Why have they decided to take this job even though it will gain them no wealth, and no glory? For some it's the pity they feel, for others it's their curiosity about the other samurai that makes them take the job. Once they're all together, the plot shifts to how they're going to defend the village and we get to see, step by step, all their plans and the implementation of them. Finally, we get to the bandit's arrival and it's battle after battle that keeps the story moving.

The final clash between bandits and samurai!

I'm not sure if it was due to the times the film was made in, the budget, that it was black & white, or if it was just a style chosen, but there was no blood at all. Not that I see this as a negative, just something I picked up on that the action and fights worked perfectly well for me despite a certain lack of realism. It was classier. It was cleaner. Perhaps a sign that we don't need all the cg blood-sprays that get added into movies these days.

In the end I was left satisfied. I really liked how they treated the ending, and there were plenty of highs and lows throughout the film. The collection of characters was great. As is with war, not everyone is going to make it out in the end, and it was sad to see who would be the ones to eventually fall. It does have it's fair share of battles, but it's certainly not action packed, and in fact isn't even classified as an action film. Definitely more of a drama, it does a really good job in that respect. It was a good movie and I'm definitely glad I saw it, and I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in ancient Japan and samurai, although I can see that it might not be a movie for everyone.