The Seven Samurai (Shichinin no Samurai)

Year: 1954

Language: Japanese

Director: Akira Kurosawa

Apart from being the mother of all recruit to kill and satirical movies on culling through unity, the movie has a lot of artistic and romantic references which make you admire the movie even without subtitles.

The first scene that stands as a portrait in my mind is the old lady’s revenge to her son’s death. Though the scene might be melodramatic, the way it is made sinks you in emotion and embraces you with a chill. The sudden silence and the wind that blows setting the perfect stage as the old lady walks through the crowd to have all her anger vented out. One of the best ever scenes made.

The tussle between new and revolutionary thoughts of Rikichi, the hot headed youngster and the wise evaluations of the village patriarch are the level of characterizations which commend admiration and salute. The search for hungry samurai in the city – the shades of personae depicted goes a step further. A ballad to attitudinal variety, from a proud and respect less to the humble and jovial, the articulate to drunkard all are philosophies in themselves. All the variety comes together for a cause which goes beyond their lives, the spirit of samurai binding them together.

The way Kurosawa uses Takashi Shimura is a wonder. He uses him to wit out and self criticize his own depictions. As the mouthpiece of Kurosawa, his quick emotional variations show the interpretations of the maker about the different circumstances. A mad man as the choice of his mouthpiece sets his standards.

The naive young samurai (or samurai to be) evolves with every sequence and grows to become a fully molded samurai. None of the characters show wildness, a different depiction of samurai from just mean fighting machines.

The love amidst atrocity and animosity is poetic depiction of innocence and immature attraction. A thought telling love cuts through chaos and involves hormonal hegemony.

The utilization of resources is something which arouse from this movie and has become a legacy in many bandit and team themed movies. The moral of everything would be useful for something underlies in the tale.

The end is a classic. No one wins a war.