Seven Samurai

A detailed Summary of Seven Samurai

In 1954 Akira Kurosawa released his film, Seven Samurai to the public. Almost half a decade later I have the privilege to also view this great film. This was the first Japanese film that I have ever given the time of day to actual view in its entirety. From the beginning to the end I was totally involved with the characters. And awesome characters they were with each and everyone of them showing their own personality and opinion throughout the plot.

The story is placed in 16th Century Japan. There is a village of farmers who are going to be under yet another attack by a large group of Bandits. Convinced not to go through it all again the villagers send a couple of farmers into town in search of four Samurai that would fight for their lives. The topper is the fact that the farmers can only pay with three meals of rice to the brave warriors. After winning over the heart of one wise and very smart Samurai, they easily recruit five more great Samurai and one wannabe. They all travel back to the village where they have to act right away to setup for the defense. They setup walls, dig waterways, and train the local farmers to fight for their ground. Just when they start to get restless of waiting the Bandits arrive and

The costumes to my knowledge, which isn't great in Japanese wear, but I thought it was all done perfectly. The farmers looked like very low class workers. The Samurai came of as warriors that were disciplined. And the Bandits who had some pretty cool costumes looked correct to me too.

The light was nothing to complain about either. All of the shots were well lit through out. Many shot were done in a deep focus where you could see around 5 to 8 people in the shot all in focus and very well lit. One shot that was nicely lit to remember was the scene where the young Samurai Katsushiro takes a walk through the flowers and trees, then lays down. Then the bandits are first spotted.

Now in the technical aspect of the film. In my opinion the film was pretty much flawless. The editing was done wonderfully with fades, soft cut, quick cuts, and wipes to give effect. One scene in the movie where I believe the editing was awesome was in the beginning of the movie when the farmers have arrived into town to find Samurai. There is a sequence of pans and POV shots that just run so smoothly you can really relate to what the farmers are looking at.

In closing I really enjoyed this movie and believe that it will have an impact on the way, one day, I make my films. I Think one of the themes of the story was given to us by the Samurai Gorobei. He stated In the conflict between giri (duty) and ninjo (personal inclination), giri must prevail. "We'll harvest in groups, not as individuals," Gorobei explains. "From tomorrow, you will live in g

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Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Movies