“Seven Samurai” is easily one of the best films I have ever seen. I love Akira Kurosawa’s work and he is easily one of my favorite directors and this film captures the reasons why. This is his Magnum Opus and the story weaves and interconnected narrative where the character arcs and themes payoff throughout. Suffice to say, I definitely recommend checking out this film. There is a reason it has been adapted so many times since it’s creation.
The film was directed and co-written by Akira Kurosawa with the other writers being Hideo Oguni and Shinobu Hashimoto.
The story follows a village that is being held hostage by bandits. When Rikichi (Yoshio Tsuchiya) has enough and decides they should recruit Samurai and fight back. The village elder agrees leading to their request to recruit Samurai to defend their village.
SPOILERS ahead
The Pros:
The Soundtrack – Fumio Hayasaka creates a beautiful soundtrack that keeps the tension and stakes flowing throughout. It soars with battles and drops with mourning and the constant drumbeat reminds you of the mortality of all the characters at play. It is a truly great soundtrack.
The Cinematography – The cinematography is beautiful with shots that capture the village, the personalities of our characters and just how desolate life is for so many at this time. Asakazu Nakai captures Kurosawa’s vision beautifully.
The World – The world of the “Seven Samurai” takes place during the end of the 16th Century and in this we get the class structure and life and conflicts of people living during the time. It is really well done and Kurosawa explores that conflict between the different individuals and groups which truly brings the time period to life.
The Bandits – The bandits initially feel like a force of nature but their aesthetic and personality make them an intriguing threat. The warriors are dressed in a mish mash of stolen armor and their leader is dressed in full samurai garb. He is also driven by some type of honor too as he risks all his men and kills those who retreat because he will not be shamed by being defeated by the village. He also takes hostages at one point showing his craftiness as a villain as well. His second-in-command also has a distinct look of samurai armor and an eye patch. He like the leader manages to survive for the longest against their assault on the village.
The Villagers – The villagers are complicated and fascinating and we see their life over the course of the film and learn more about farmers. They hide the good food and sake for special occasions and are initially extremely distrustful of the Samurai, seeing them same as the bandits to some degree…They aren’t wrong to be afraid either as one of the samurai calls the Seven out for the wars of the Samurai creating this fear and desperation that drives them in the first place.
Shino – Shino is a wonderful character who spends most of the film fighting for her agency. Her father cuts her hair, afraid the samurai will take her and later when she falls in love punishes her again. He only sees her as a way to gain more wealth and I hated him so much. Luckily there seems to be a future with her and her lover Lord Katsushirō based on the last scenes of the film. Keiko Tsushima a wonderful job in the role.
Rikichi – Rikichi drives the action of the story and experiences so much pain and loss. From arrogant samurai beating him for even asking for help, to his wife killing herself in shame after she was used by the bandits. In the end he finds a reason to live though as a protector of the village and his friendship with the Seven. Yoshio Tsuchiya gives so much nuance to this character who was one of my favorites in the film.
The Village Elder – The village elder has seen a lot and we see how crafty he is in the amount of samurai he asks for and when he recalls history of the only village to not be sacked in the past was one that had samurai defending it. Sadly he does not survive the film as he refuses to leave his home in the bandits first attack.
The Seven Samurai – Besides Rikichi my favorite characters are a few of the Samurai. All seven are compelling in their own ways but the most intriguing and my favorites are the ones I will go into further. The battles is costly and only 3 samurai survive but how they change the village for the better and their legacy they leave behind is powerful. There is a reason the film is named after them.
Kyūzō – Kyūzō is the honor bound swordsman and probably the biggest badass of the group outside of Kikuchiyo. This is a man who inspires Katsushirō to be the best samurai he can be and he is key to their victory over the bandits. He trains the villagers in combat and steals a musket when battle commences. Sadly he is killed in the end and it is easily the hardest loss of the Seven.
Gorōbei Katayama – Gorōbei is the only other survivor of the Seven besides Katsushirō and Kambei. He is the kindest of the group besides Kambei and sees the big picture. He is an amazing strategist and he is an early motivator for Kikuchiyo to be better. Seeing his comradery with Kambei is wonderful and I’m glad he survived. Yoshio Inaba truly inhabits the role.
Katsushirō Okamoto – Katsushirō is the idealist protégé of Kambei who becomes it after insisting he join the quest. He also saves the villagers at one point when their rice is stolen and he gives them money so they can continue to feed the samurai as they are recruited. He and Shino fall in love and we see his respect for her life as a villager. In the end it is implied they end up together and that she might be pregnant with their child. It is powerful as he knows by choosing love he can no longer follow Kambei but he clearly knows where his heart and honor lies.
Kambei Shimada – Takashi Shimura gives us the noble leader of the Seven who is driven by his loss as every side he has fought for has lost, but somehow he survives. His nobility is established early too as he saves a child taken hostage by a crazy man. He also survives the war with the bandits too and voices it as a curse as he knows he is about to lose his protégé to the village too.
Kikuchiyo – Toshiro Mifune plays the most compelling character in this piece. Kikuchiyo is likely a stolen identy as we learn that he was raised as a farmer and his full of hatred of the samurai he has become. His arc involves him becoming a responsible leader as Kambie inspires him to be better with each reckless act he does. He takes this to heart and in the end we see how much he cares for the village and their livelihood as he is the one to kill the bandit leader before dying from the bandit leader’s musket blast. This complex and compelling warrior calls out the samurai for creating the conditions of the villagers fear and desperation and he is right, in this way he is the best warrior because he understands the cost of war so well.
The Cost of War – The cost of war is a theme that is ever present in the film. You see it the village elders story of past villages destroyed and in the life of the village. Women have been kidnapped and made slaves by the bandits and the village is living on the edge with very little to offer leading them to horde what of value they have. Fear dominates the village and the cost of battle and the constant presence of death is shown in how many villagers and samurai die in their victory, and in the property the bandits destroy in their first attack. There are no good choices in war and the film captures that so well.
Class Conflict – Class conflict is another theme of the film. Kikuchiyo stole the identify of a samurai and gains status from it. We see how villagers are treated as the lowest class in town and it is the nobles wars that hurt the farmers and the poor. The film doesn’t shy away from this and it is most beautifully illustrated in Kikuchiyo’s speech to the Seven on why the farmers are the way they are because of these wars.
This is one of my all time favorite films and it doesn’t feel long at all. Each character arc pays off and all the threads are interconnected to create this beautiful unforgettable tale. This is Kurosawa at his best and I can see why it has inspired so many adaptations. If you haven’t ever seen an Akira Kurosawa film I’d recommends starting with this one. This is art in it’s purest form.
Final Score: 10 / 10
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