Seven Samurai (1954)

Film: Seven Samurai

Director: Akira Kurosawa

Country: Japan

Released: April 1954

Runtime: 207 minutes

Genre: Action

Studio: Toho

Influenced: Sergio Leone, Sam Peckinpah, King Hu, Ramesh Sippy, Yoji Yamada, Lynne Ramsay

Seven Samurai not only stimulated interest in samurai films internationally, it also led to a revival of the genre in Japan. In a country brought to its knees by WWII, it restored a sense of national pride in past traditions. On top of that, it's the greatest action movie ever made. Like the western tradition in America, the samurai tradition in Japan is a genre that cinema inherited rather than invented, giving new life to a cultural mythos that runs deep in Japan. Samurai heroes like Miyamoto Musashi, a 17th century Zen swordsman whose legend has been much recounted in books and plays, form the bedrock of Japanese culture and were part of the inspiration for Kurosawa's film. As was the legend of the loyal 47 ronin.

Seven Samurai is set in the late 16th century during the lawless Warring States Period, depicting seven ronin (or masterless samurai) who band together to protect a poor farming community under threat from repeated attacks by marauding bandits. A key theme in the film is the gradual end of hierarchy and class distinction, symbolised by the recurring motif of the circle, a band of brothers who stand in equal unity in the face of tyranny. Thematically, the film is almost the opposite of High Noon, in that it stresses the value of team effort not individual heroics. Other notable features of Seven Samurai – such as its epic three-and-a-half-hour runtime, on-location shooting and use of multiple camera set-ups for its action scenes – made this Toho studio release the most expensive Japanese production of its day.

Despite the film's 3hr+ runtime, it still feels so lean, thanks to its compact dialogue and rapid jump cuts. There are moments of comedy that offer light relief too, starting with the old man who instructs the villagers to "find hungry samurai". One of my favourite moments is when Toshiro Mifune makes the children laugh while teaching the peasants how to sword fight, mocking them in the process. Mifune gives a wonderfully energetic performance as the samurai Kikuchiyo. Kurosawa's other acting stalwart, Takashi Shimura, plays Kambei Shimada, and Shimura's transition from old man in Ikiru (1952) to leader of the Seven Samurai must be one of the most astounding acting reinventions of all time. Gorobei, Shimada's lieutenant, is another of my favourite characters, full of wise advice and good cheer. 

Seven isn't an arbitrary number, it's the number Shimada's strategising brain believes is necessary to defend the village from marauding bandits. As well as the Seven Samurai, there are also three farmers that are important characters in the film. In the second half of the movie, action becomes more important than dialogue, as though Kurosawa is returning cinema to the power of its silent roots, and the film is full of extraordinary shots like the dying mother handing her baby to Kikuchiyo in front of a burning water wheel. Fumio Hayasaka's musical score is also one of the best ever made, serving to enhance the drama and each characters’ narrative arc. What's most memorable about the film though is Kurosawa's cinematography, especially his use of natural settings and weather conditions, groundbreaking intercuts between normal and slow motion to depict violence, and different camera angles to create a sense of dynamic energy. It goes without saying that Seven Samurai is a masterpiece.

P.S. For an alternative take on the Samurai mythos, you can't beat Masaki Kobayashi's Harakiri (1962), though it makes for a gruelling and cinematic experience.