Kurosawa Watch: The Seven Samurai (1954)

Watched:  05/28/2024

Format:  Criterion

Viewing:  First

Director:  Akira Kurosawa

So.  A little housekeeping.

This is our 100th post of 2024 under the Movies 2024 tab.  Good for us.  I'm glad we picked a good one for this milestone.  

Fun fact:  this movie came out in 1954, the same year Toho Studios also released Gojira.  Pretty damn big year for Toho.  But I also am curious how the years since the war influenced this movie as much as it influenced Gojira.

Also:  I've walked around since about 1995 with the belief that I'd previously seen The Seven Samurai (1954).  I think I've even marked it on "what movies have you seen?" quizzes as one I'd watched.  I basically knew what it was about, how it ended in broad strokes.  But began to suspect something was up when I saw the runtime on the movie and said "I don't remember it being this long..."

I have never seen this movie.  I remember sitting down to watch it.  I have no idea what happened.  Possibly I chickened out watching a 3.5 hour movie.

But watch it Jamie and I did.

But, what does one even say about one of the most beloved movies of all of cinema?  This is like stumbling across The Godfather in 2024 and trying to add to the conversation.

What I can say is how I felt - which will be how many of you likely felt, or would feel, I think.

It's almost... humbling to see this movie.  Released 70 years ago, only 20-something years into the sound-age, and it's as fresh (or fresher) than most of what comes out now.  It's so fundamental and foundational to cinema that it's in the DNA of everything that came after.  

I mean, I was first exposed to this via my cousin taking me to see Battle Beyond the Stars as a kid.  In high school or early college, I watched The Magnificent Seven.  In between, I watched The Three Amigos.  And they're still remaking this now.  Good 'ol Zack Snyder just made a knock-off of this and Star Wars with his Rebel Moon films (I've not seen them).  

Do those movies carry the weight and nuance of this movie?  No.  Is this still a rollicking picture intended for a wide audience with humor, pathos, action and romance?  Absolutely. 

But the cinematography is stuff that was rarely in western pictures in this mode in 1954 - artful, dynamic, painterly.  The camera is in motion a lot for this era.  But it's also framing everything just so, and the motion within the frame is as choreographed as the camera itself.  Maybe there was other cinema doing this in Japan or elsewhere form this period that looks like this -  but it's news to me.

In some ways, the biggest shock to me watching the film was not the diversity of the Samurai and their eventual fates.  I'd seen Magnificent Seven.  What surprised me was the treatment of the villagers as complex, terrified for a reason, battling their inner issues, and finding curious strength they never suspected they had.  But, my god, are they a flawed, complicated hoard.  But, our Samurai never waver in their dedication to their protection.

The extra run-time allows for characters to reveal themselves via the slow burn of plot threads started early and finally finding room to blossom - from Manzo's worst fears (which are nowhere near as mortal as the bandits) coming true to Kikuchiyo's past catching up with him.  

Not every movie has lifted from this one directly, but I'm also curious how much action pictures have been inspired by this one in myriad ways.  We're still pulling together unlikely gangs to help folks out in movies every summer.  Hell, Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers are pretty good examples.  There have been 7 members of the Justice League in some of their best comics incarnations.  I think about The Dirty Dozen and Where Eagles Dare.  

It's just a reminder of how great it is to have a movie that has well-defined characters across the board, and the rewarding experience you get watching what would be a simple action movie in other hands.

Anyway, it's an experience of a movie, and I'm glad I did finally watch it.  I'm going to be sitting with it for a bit and look forward to watching it again.