And behind door number 22... a guide to some music of the more traditional kind
Catherine Munn and Jacob Martin list their Top 5 programmes to watch over the festive period.
And behind door number nine... some dazzling musical delights
The complete arts guide, for week 9
It is rare that a film comes to encapsulate its genre and even to a degree a nation’s filmmaking to the same extent as Seven Samurai. For this not only the quintessential samurai flick but also more fundamentally perhaps the first film that springs to most people’s mind when one contemplates classic Japanese cinema. Considering the many masterpieces that have stemmed from the country, including many of director Akira Kurosawa’s other works, this says an awful lot.
The plot to Seven Samurai is remarkably simple: a group of desperate farmers hire the eponymous warriors to defend their village against a force of bandits who will attack after the harvest. However, this considerably undersells the film, which engages throughout in rich character drama between the Samurais and the villagers with the concepts of class and ideology playing off against each other throughout, meaning that this is a film about ideas as much as bandit fighting. Ideas that it has to be said mostly failed to translate to the inferior western remake The Magnificent Seven and even more so in the rather forgettable seventies Sci-fi Battle Beyond the Stars with the original simply having more depth, intelligence and, let’s be the honest, length than its American counterparts.
An uncut version approaches almost three and half hours, during which the film quite remarkably never drags in the slightest. This is a real testament to its beguiling power and the complexity of its characters that provide all the background tension and excitement, as each Samurai becomes a fully rounded and complex character in their own right, from their noble and wise leader Kanbe Shimada (Takashi Shimura) to the impetuous Samurai wannabe Kikuchiyo (Toshiro Mifune). The result being that they not only provide a clear vision of 16th century Japan but also means that when the eventual battle does take place we sincerely care for the outcome and what might befall each one. For this is not a film that pulls its punches and is brutally honest in its assessment of its characters and life, with the farmers lying, hoarding and generally doing whatever is necessary to survive, including the murder of stray Samurai. It seems the warrior elite themselves have, through their arrogance and strength, left the country in the shape it is in, where bandits roam and the people suffer whilst they harp on about honour and glory. Yet that said the picture’s warriors are not the one-man armies like Yojimbo or Zatoichi. Each has realistic amount of combat strength and although they will fight bravely if push comes to shove they are willing to run or, as one recalls, hide in a ditch rather than die in some futile gesture of defiance and honour.
Almost 60 years since Akira Kurosawa's cameras started rolling on Seven Samurai, it remains as breathtaking and fresh as when it first appears for although the film’s style may reveal its age, the picture’s lost none of its meaning or power remaining the benchmark for the genre and action adventure cinema as a whole.
I would argue that Rashomon is a more significant work when discussing Japanese cinema. Made before Seven Samurai, it paved the way for the masterpieces Kurosawa made in his career and it can be argued that without Rashomon, there would never have been Seven Samurai in the first place.
You must log in to submit a comment.
Report