Chris Rivers

Professor Sheehan

RTVF 272

5/18/13

Seven Samurai

Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai released in1954 is considered to be his masterpiece and one of his most influential movies. It is the first of ten movies he made with actor Toshiro Mifune from 1954 to 1965. Seven Samurai is one of Kurosawa’s most popular movies and inspired the Hollywood remake, The Magnificent Seven; as well as many other westerns such as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and The Wild Bunch. The film Seven Samurai is an action filled epic about a small community of farmers who are plagued by bandits that force the villagers to give up their precious crops and leave them starving every season. The villagers of the farming community in feudal Japan commission a misfit band of samurai warriors to defend the community against a marauding group of bandits. Kurosawa wastes no time in creating the momentum of the film. It’s simply offered in the film’s opening sequence—a daunting view of horses galloping at sunrise. The villagers realize that they must do something to stave off the plundering bandits and decide that must seek help, and the film is off and running, as the villagers go in search of the samurai warriors that they need to defend them. The plot is quickly revealed to us, as we meet each of the chosen samurai and their leader, the great Takashi Shimura. The samurai set the plan into action on what the villagers will need to do in order to fight off the group of bandits. Kurosawa weaves backstory into the film a storyline that enriches the plot. The samurai that the villagers are seeking help from are the same class of samurai that they had persecuted in the past. The story of Seven Samurai is not simply a story of Good versus Evil, but a story of realization, reconciliation and retribution. This brings about the question of why would these samurai help the villagers, and why would they do it for virtually nothing but a only a few handfuls of rice for food? The answer is for the adventure. These samurai have been in many battles, but it is only from this battle will they ultimately be able to test themselves. There is no great reward, and the odds of them winning are microscopic. That is precisely why they fight and what they stand for as samurai. These well-seasoned warriors strive to experience that intimate sense of “honor” that is so prized by the Japanese. Witnessing this rag-tag band of samurai defend the village makes for a climax as powerful as ever has been seen on a motion picture screen. Kurosawa strived to model each of the seven samurai after historical samurai. He was inspired by his family’s samurai linage and wanted to pay homage to their honorable history. The samurai begin training the villagers and compiling a defense plan for the community. The villagers somewhat resist the plan initially but, eventually come around to the samurai way of thinking. The fields are harvested and flooded; the village is fortified; villagers are trained in battle, and a dangerous raid on the bandit village is conducted, throughout all of theses exercised a bond of trust and camaraderie is created between the villagers and the samurai.  Katsushirō, the youngest of the samurai begins a flirtation with Shino a farmer’s daughter who has been masquerading as boy to protect her from lustful samurai. The battle is in full force and the samurai’s plans are working beautifully but Kikuchiyo abandons his post to capture a musket from the bandits so that he can impress the other samurai and in doing so he allows the bandits access to the village. The bandits pillage the village and kill several villagers and one of the samurai, Gorobei, before being driven out of the village. That night the villagers and the samurai are demoralized by their defeat. The villagers assemble all the food and sake that they have been stockpiling to have one last feast before what they believe to be their impending demise. During this Katsushirō and Shino sneak away to consummate their love only to be discovered by her father who begins to beat Shino because she has been deflowered and is no longer pure. Shimada stops the beating and it begins to rain, which sums up of the defeat of the day. Kurosawa uses rain as a common tool to express the emotion of the narrative. In the final battle many of the villagers and all but three of the samurai are killed, leaving Shimada and Katsushirō to contemplate the battle. The next day the farmers are rejoicing and replanting their crops. In the final cinematic shot Kurosawa leaves us with the daunting image of graves of all the villagers and the samurai on the hill with their swords in their graves to mark their sacrifice