I sette samurai

Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece... The Japanese equivalent to Orson Welles' Citizen Kane.. I say it's just as good, if not even better. Not only Kurosawa's most well known film, but the most widely recognized Japanese film ever made. This movie will forever be known as a milestone in motion picture history.

The story revolves around a village that has become a group of bandits' common looting and pillaging ground. The villagers cannot take this any longer and go to town to hire warriors to defend the village from the bandits. A wandering ronin, Kambei (Takashi Shimura) agrees to help them and with his help, they recruit six others that agree to take the job. The seven samurai teach the villagers how to stand up to the bandits and defend themselves. Finally, when the time comes, they engage in a fierce battle with the attacking bandits.

About once in every 20 years or so we are gifted with a film that has the meaning, power, richness, and technique that The Seven Samurai has. I cannot urge anyone enough to see this film, the images are true cinematic poetry rich with so much emotion that I cannot even describe them in words. If you have never seen any of Kurosawa's works, then please see Seven Samurai... you will witness the true beauty, excellence and magic that the art form known as film is capable of.

Story-telling at its finest, "Seven Samurai" is a terrific film not because of a handful of memorable scenes or lines, but rather because scene-by-scene, frame-by-frame, it tells an interesting story as well as it is possible to tell it. The story and characters are developed carefully, and everything about the movie, from the settings and props to the musical score, is done carefully and expertly.

Mifune grabs the attention in most of his scenes, and Shimura's more restrained character is a nice balance. Those two have the best parts, but all seven of the samurai are memorable characters. The sequence of events that collects the seven together occupies the first part of the movie, and forms a perfect foundation for the rest. A few of the villagers are also portrayed nicely, although they are naturally overshadowed when the samurai are around.

The story always moves along nicely, with many ups and downs. It has enough unpredictability to keep you interested the whole time, without ever losing its credibility. There is plenty of action, but there is also substance behind the action to give it more significance. The only possible drawback is the long running time (you can always split it up into two installments, but it's more satisfying if you can watch the whole story through at once), but there is little that you could cut out, even if you wanted to. It holds your attention the entire time with a good story and great technique, not by resorting to sensational or sordid details.

This movie well deserves its reputation for excellence, and is one that everyone who appreciates classic cinema will want to see and enjoy.

This is my favorite Kurosawa film, the man was a true master of the cinematic arts. If you have never seen a Kurosawa film definetly make this your first. Though extremely long at about 3 1/2 hours it is well worth the time spent.

To quickly summarize, a poor Japanese village hires 7 Samurai to protect it from being raided by bandits. Don't get me wrong there is way more to it than that, I just dont want to give anything away. This is an intense and emotional movie that hooks you from the first scene and keeps you on the line till it is all over. The battle scene at the end is in true Kurosawa form. The acting is outstanding by everyone involved from the main characters all the way down to the very last extra. Of course the best way to see any film, especially a Kurosawa film is on the big screen if you are able to. Beautifully filmed, in black and white, anyone familiar with Kurosawa's work has to wonder visually how much more gorgeous it could have been had Kurosawa had the option of color in 1954.

The camera use is brilliant and every scene is balanced visually. This film is also the first one to use "the wipe" as a way of changing from one scene to another. This technique was later used by George Lucas in his Star Wars movies. I would also recommend the DVD version that has the commentary option by the Japanese cinema expert if anyone is interested in a deeper understanding of the "hows" and "whys" of Kurosawa's film making. Any man, woman, boy or girl who just wants to see a really, really great movie, THIS IS THE ONE! An A+++ in my book.

Having seen Kurosawa's Seven Samurai at least 10 times, I still see something new every time I watch it. I don't see how anyone, especially a non-Japanese, could possibly absorb this movie in less than 2 or 3 viewings. I've always been surprised at how each of the 7 samurai can make such an individual impression on you even if you can't understand Japanese. Although Toshiro Mifune is often considered the star, for me its Takashi Shimura who is firmly fixed at the center of the movie. He is the guiding moral force from the moment of his appearance in the film and can capture the viewer's attention in a way similar to Alec Guinness. Mifune's character can be annoying at first in his loutish behavior, but he gains stature throughout the film and eventually becomes a unifying force second only to Shimura. Minoru Chiaki as the woodcutting samurai provides a subtle humor and the others look to him to boost their morale. Daisuke Kato is another very familiar face to Japanese movie fans and provides an excellent foil to Shimura as his second in command. Yoshio Inaba is very good as the samurai who is recruited by Shimura and quickly builds a strong rapport with him. Seiji Miyaguchi as the "expert" warrior, dedicated to honing his skill as a swordsman is a very low key yet likeable character. Ko Kimura as the young hero-worshipping samurai, as well as the love interest of the peasant girl, wishes to be a great samurai, but is easily distracted by a field of flowers or a pretty face. The peasants in the village being defended by the samurai each have their own defining characteristics as well.

In addition to the wealth of interesting characters, we have a terrific action plot--the defending of the village from 40 marauding bandits by the small troop of samurai--, and a more subtle secondary plot involving the distrust of the samurai by the villagers due to the historical interaction of these two classes in feudal Japan. All of these plot and character elements are woven together into an unforgettable epic, but, at least in my opinion, its not one that can be absorbed in a single sitting. While it's similar in this sense to another of my favorite epics, Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West, it is more complex given the number of characters.

I can only say that your patience with this film will probably be well rewarded if you take the time to give it multiple viewings. You will also have the pleasure of seeing many of the samurai and villagers pop up in other Kurosawa films and films of other Japanese directors. If you like Mifune and Shimura in this one, catch them in Stray Dog and Drunken Angel in very different settings and parts.

This one is 10 out of 10 without a doubt.

I've been on a Toho binge for a while now and for the most part the films have been enjoyable, especially those by Kurosawa.

The earlier films were dark, bleak and unsettling viewing and therefore going into Seven Samurai I was of two minds. First I expected more of the same, in both quality and tone but then on the flipside at time of writing this is ranked as the 19th highest rated movie on IMDB which is incredible.

My expectations were that it would be good, but that's about it. Seeing Takashi Shimura in the credits also confirmed my logic that this was going to at least be an entertaining three and a half hours.

I was mistaken, Seven Samurai is not good............it's outstanding.

Wonderfully crafted, perfectly scored, incredibly choreographed, well acted and beautifully written this is well deserving of it's high place and I would consider it nothing short of a masterpiece.

If you check out my IMDB rating distribution it's very clear to see that getting anything higher than an eight is a rarity, this deserves it on so many levels.

I didn't expect this level of quality further as generally I don't tend to agree with titles in the IMDB top 250, this however I do I thoroughly unconditionally agree.

A masterpiece and essential viewing, I don't even need to give the premise of the movie in this review and must simply stress that this is film making mastery at its finest.

The Good:

Takashi Shimura

Very well shot for its time

Perfectly crafted

The Bad:

Nothing springs to mind

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Akira Kurosawas should be a household name, not Bruckheimer or Bay!

I'll put money down now that none of the remakes or movies heavily influenced by Seven Samurai comes close in quality