SEVEN SAMURAI Movie Review
Shichinin No Samurai
The Magnificent Seven
1954 Akira Kurosawa
Ignore labels. Call it a war film, an adventure, a period piece—Akira Kurosawa's early masterpiece is one of the few films that genuinely deserves to be called “great.” Though the setting is 16th century rural Japan, the film's emotions and conflicts are universal.
Like so many of Kurosawa's works, this one is set in a time of civil war, when established law and order have mostly disappeared. The countryside is terrorized by groups of roving ex-soldiers who have been reduced to banditry. A small mountain hamlet has already been the target of a particularly fierce band when one of its citizens overhears the bandits plotting to return there after the next harvest. When he goes home with the news, the villagers are distraught. “Farmers are born to suffer,” one of them wails, “Let's greet them meekly and give up our crops!” After considerable discussion, much of it along the same hysterical lines, four men are dispatched to a nearby city on a desperate mission to find unemployed samurai (or ronin) who will agree to defend the town for nothing more than three squares a day and the chance to fight.
The men's first efforts are met with derision, but then they find Kambei Shimada (Takashi Shimura), a grizzled veteran who doesn't like the deal but knows it's the best he's likely to get. He finds the rest. The first is right at hand, Katsuishiro (Isao Kimura), a handsome young man of some means but no real experience. At first, Gorobei Katayama (Yoshio Inaba) isn't interested, but his fatalistic sense of humor leads him to reconsider. For Heihachi Hayashida (Minoru Chiaki), the choice is much easier. He's been reduced to chopping firewood, so even this job sounds good to him. Shichiroji (Daisuke Kato) is Kambei's old right-hand man, so he signs on right away. Finally, there is Kyuzo (Seiji Miyaguchi), the master swordsman who personifies lethal dignity.
But that's only six, isn't it? The drunken, boastful Kikuchiyo (Toshiro Mifune) fills out the group's ranks. He isn't really a samurai at all, but he so desperately wants to be one that he tags along, ignoring all the jokes and insults the others bait him with. Kikuchiyo manages to prove himself, too, though not as he had expected.
Almost the first half of the film covers that recruitment process, and it's beautifully paced. The slow duel that introduces Kyuzo stands alone as a brilliant set piece. The middle section moves back to the village and is focused on tactics, training, and the social turmoil sparked by the arrival of the samurai. Superficially, the relationship between helpless victim and valiant defender ought to be simple enough, but Kurosawa knows better. After conflicts have erupted in several areas, Kikuchiyo launches into a bitter soliloquy about farmers that encapsulates Kurosawa's views of Japanese social contradictions: “They pose as saints but are full of lies. If they smell a battle, they hunt the defeated! Listen! Farmers are stingy, foxy, blubbering, mean, stupid, and murderous! (Expletive deleted.) Damn! But then, who made them such beasts? You did! You samurai did it. You burn their villages! Destroy their farms! Steal their food! Force them into labor! Take their women! And kill them if they resist! So what should farmers do? Damn … Damn.”
In the third act, the bandits return and the battle is joined. Those long scenes contain some of the most memorable action footage ever put on film. Kurosawa subtly uses a few moments of slow and fast motion to emphasize different types of violence. He also mixes the quick cutting that has become typical of large-scale action with several long, complex single takes in the middle of battle scenes. Still, the camera work is unobtrusive. He's not showing off when he follows Kikuchiyo through an intricate series of moves as he taunts the enemy, then retreats, climbs up a log and moves off it. That's simply the best way to tell that part of the story. The confrontation ends with the famous battle in the rain where the village becomes such a morass of mud that the black-and-white almost seems to bleed into sepia.
Throughout the film, but most notably in the last third, Kurosawa integrates the rugged mountain landscape with the action and the characters. In the same way, the sexual and social questions that have been raised earlier are brought to conclusion with the addition of several levels of irony as the physical action intensifies. Kurosawa is justly famous for his ability to create strong visceral action scenes and to deal with complex moral issues. His ability to work with actors hasn't been as highly praised, but he finds sterling performances in all the key roles here, particularly the three leads. Seiji Miyaguchi's laconic warrior who has nothing to prove crosses all cultural divisions. Takashi Shimura's rough-edged tactician is an engaging, likeable leader. They're both commanding performances by mature actors, but Toshiro Mifune owns all of his scenes. His character is the wise fool, equal parts clown and tragic hero, and Mifune plays him with such animated spirit that he becomes the film's core. But he does not define the film. All the parts that comprise this ambitious picture fit together so well that it's pointless to praise one over the others.
Like David Lean, Akira Kurosawa understands that the epic—and despite its relatively narrow limits, this is an epic—must be based on believable characters caught up in larger circumstances completely beyond their control.
Seven Samurai is one of the best by any measure. Watch it again.
Cast: Toshiro Mifune (Kikuchiyo), Takashi Shimura (Kambei Shimada), Yoshio Inaba (Gorobei), Kuninori Kodo (Gisaku), Isao (Ko) Kimura (Katsushiro), Seiji Miyaguchi (Kyuzo), Minoru Chiaki (Heihachi Hayashida), Daisuke Kato (Shichiroji), Bokuzen Hidari (Yohei), Kamatari Fujiwara (Manzo), Yoshio Kosugi (Mosuke), Yoshio Tsuchiya (Rikichi), Jun Tatara (Coolie), Sojin (Minstrel), Kichijiro Ueda (Bandit Leader), Jun Tazaki (Doomed, arrogant samurai), Keiji Sakakida (Gasaku), Keiko Tsushima (Shino), Gen Shimizu (Masterless Samurai); Written by: Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni; Cinematography by: Asakazu Nakai; Music by: Fumio Hayasaka. Producer: Shojiro Motoki, Kingsley International, Toho Films. Japanese. Awards: Venice Film Festival '54: Silver Prize; Nominations: Academy Awards '56: Best Art Direction/Set Decoration (B & W), Best Costume Design (B & W). Running Time: 204 minutes. Format: VHS, Beta, LV, DVD.