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Director: Akira Kurosawa
This was my first Kurosawa film and I was not disappointed. I am not one to talk about film length very often, I think a film should be however long it takes the director to tell the story. I will admit however when I fired up Seven Samurai on Hulu and 3:46 appeared at the bottom I was very worried. Making it through a 1954 foreign language action film of this length did not seem like something i was ready for. Kurosawa however doesn't waste a scene in this film even if many scenes are a little more on the nose than I would prefer.
My problems with the film are the same problems that I have with a lot of classic films. All of our characters are one dimensional which makes them fairly predictable. We know what purpose they will serve in the plot almost from the moment we meet them, to the point where we can predict which characters are probable to live and which will likely die.
I also have an issue with the portrayal of the peasants in this film. The peasants are the center of our story and are treated with disdain by all of the characters around them. While this is understandable in the context of the film, I felt throughout that Kurosawa treated them the same way. Every peasant, except possibly one, in this film is treated like a fearful moron. Often they are seen running around aimlessly babbling incoherently to each other. When they do engage our heroes in conversation they have nothing to add to the process that is transpiring. There is no better evidence of this than in one of our seven heroes. As soon as we meet this character we know he will be a part of our group, yet he is always treated like a punch line. He is treated like that by the other characters because he is written like that by our story teller. In one of the plot twists midway through the film it is revealed he is a peasant. This comes as no surprise because of the seven samurai he is the most peasant like. Each character must fit into a stereotype.
What engaged me in this film is the glimpse into the culture as well as the cinematography. For a movie made in 1954 it looks amazing. We are transported into this world through the landscapes, through the poverty that is portrayed visually, and through the way the characters interact with one another. Kurosawa also does a fantastic job with the action in this film. In a movie that the plot revolves entirely around a village protecting itself it would have been easy to just piece action scene after action scene together. Kurosawa never does this, the action is always handled in a very intelligent way. Giving us just what we need to get the next part of the story.
Overall I enjoyed this film quite a bit, and am looking forward to seeing more of Kurosawa's work. I am reluctant to give classic films like this star ratings, as they rarely engage me the way they need to emotionally to warrant consideration in my favorites, or multiple viewings. This film reminds me of Citizen Kane in that I respect it more than I love it, and will probably reference it more than I will watch it.
Director: Akira Kurosawa
This was my first Kurosawa film and I was not disappointed. I am not one to talk about film length very often, I think a film should be however long it takes the director to tell the story. I will admit however when I fired up Seven Samurai on Hulu and 3:46 appeared at the bottom I was very worried. Making it through a 1954 foreign language action film of this length did not seem like something i was ready for. Kurosawa however doesn't waste a scene in this film even if many scenes are a little more on the nose than I would prefer.
My problems with the film are the same problems that I have with a lot of classic films. All of our characters are one dimensional which makes them fairly predictable. We know what purpose they will serve in the plot almost from the moment we meet them, to the point where we can predict which characters are probable to live and which will likely die.
I also have an issue with the portrayal of the peasants in this film. The peasants are the center of our story and are treated with disdain by all of the characters around them. While this is understandable in the context of the film, I felt throughout that Kurosawa treated them the same way. Every peasant, except possibly one, in this film is treated like a fearful moron. Often they are seen running around aimlessly babbling incoherently to each other. When they do engage our heroes in conversation they have nothing to add to the process that is transpiring. There is no better evidence of this than in one of our seven heroes. As soon as we meet this character we know he will be a part of our group, yet he is always treated like a punch line. He is treated like that by the other characters because he is written like that by our story teller. In one of the plot twists midway through the film it is revealed he is a peasant. This comes as no surprise because of the seven samurai he is the most peasant like. Each character must fit into a stereotype.
What engaged me in this film is the glimpse into the culture as well as the cinematography. For a movie made in 1954 it looks amazing. We are transported into this world through the landscapes, through the poverty that is portrayed visually, and through the way the characters interact with one another. Kurosawa also does a fantastic job with the action in this film. In a movie that the plot revolves entirely around a village protecting itself it would have been easy to just piece action scene after action scene together. Kurosawa never does this, the action is always handled in a very intelligent way. Giving us just what we need to get the next part of the story.
Overall I enjoyed this film quite a bit, and am looking forward to seeing more of Kurosawa's work. I am reluctant to give classic films like this star ratings, as they rarely engage me the way they need to emotionally to warrant consideration in my favorites, or multiple viewings. This film reminds me of Citizen Kane in that I respect it more than I love it, and will probably reference it more than I will watch it.