Review: Seven Samurai

Directed by: Akira Kurosawa

Written by: Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni

Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima, Isao Kimura, Daisuke Katō

Rating: [5/5]

A distinct honor exists for those who will help the defenseless in their time of need, especially if no physical incentive exists in order to step in. It comes from a sense of integrity anyone would strive to achieve but rarely exists as evidenced in Seven Samurai. The definition of no such thing as a free lunch but when interests align, it can make something as impactful and awe-inspiring as this masterpiece. 

For a remote mountain village, they make their living from producing rice and selling it, but lately, they have dealt with a group of bandits who raid their coffers. With the imminent return of these bandits, the farmers from the village seek help in defending their land as they try to enlist the help of samurai with the only asset to offer to be rice in return and nothing monetarily.

Even for those not entrenched in international and classic cinema, the name Seven Samurai will probably ring a bell for many because of the cultural footprint it has left around the world. Many will just recognize the name and know it’s supposed to be a good film. This builds a level of expectation where in a career as illustrious and prolific as Akira Kurosawa’s this film would be widely deemed as his very best. It’s with great pleasure to say how much this feature lives up to every word of praise it has ever received as one the seminal pieces of cinema ever put on film. 

Coming in at a whopping 207 minutes, this feature certainly has plenty of story to tell and it undoubtedly uses every single second to use as its sets up the stakes for what involves these farmers as they see an impending doom ahead of them and then try to enlist samurai to assist them in this incredibly difficult endeavor. As a result, this feature takes us back to 16th century Japan, where the rule of law really did not exist and it all came down to who could draw their sword quicker and who came out on top, which made the assistance of samurai paramount to the survival of these farmers and their village. 

Through their search in finding samurai who could help them, we get a good history lesson on what mattered to these men and what these farmers could use in order to solicit their services. These samurai operated as hired hands and mercenaries that would assist at a certain price. Anyone could theoretically purchase the services of these samurai but considering these farmers did not have much money to entice even one, the offer of providing them all the rice they could want through nourishment was all they could negotiate with. As you can imagine, it did not go well with many they approached with this offer but it did shed light on how some of these samurai potentially would as this time in Japan came with no guarantee that a hot meal would exist for everyone. Therefore it shows a hierarchy of samurai that existed in the time when some could charge money for their services and those so desperate for a plate of food would do it simply for some sustenance.

Gathering these samurai in the attempt to take on this group of dozens of bandits serves as one part of the story but once those they could assemble together, the narrative gets even more intriguing in how it looks at the relationship between these farmers and the samurai. As you can imagine, this era of Japan has everyone fending for themselves. No police force or office maintaining order stepped up to try and make people whole or protect innocent civilians. It meant innocence did not exist in this world. Self-defense served as a survival mechanism to ensure you maintained food on the table and the continued ability to live. A desperation that causes issues, in moments, between the samurai and the farmers even if they find themselves on the same side. It makes complete sense, which adds an extra layer that allows for exploration in the film. 

As the title indicates, seven samurai come together to help this village with some joining solely for the food and others for bit nobler reasons, but each of them brings something distinct to the table making them unique. The undisputed leader of the group who initially agrees to help the farmers and assists with the recruitment of the others is Kambei Shimada (Takashi Shimura). He holds the most honor amongst others as he commands respect. He has this stoicism to him that gets melted down into a caring man, especially when it comes to the well-being of everyone around him. Then you have the stone-faced Kyūzō (Seiji Miyaguchi), the young and inexperienced Katsushirō (Isao Kimura), and of course, the boisterous and inelegant Kikuchiyo portrayed by the one and only Toshiro Mifune. 

Getting Takashi Shimura and Toshiro Mifune together for a Kurosawa film guarantees top quality as these two go head to head so well. Whether a father-son relationship between them or what appears in this feature, they know how to work together and craft something unforgettable. Shimura, in this feature, takes on the more level-headed leader trying to put everything together while Mifune finds himself back in this feral role much like in Rashomon four years prior. Definitely the wild card of the bunch but undoubtedly an expert swordsman who proves to mightily help the effort here. 

As copied by other Westerns, this tale ultimately becomes one of the larger underdog stories when it comes to battles where you have these seven samurai and untrained farmers take on a group of well-armed bandits who attack on horse. This puts them at a decisive disadvantage and makes them have to use strategy in order to defeat them. The way it all gets put together makes for some stunning sequences. Particularly when you get to those scenes shot in the rain, it demonstrates the dirtiness involved in this battle as they try to ensure victory against a more well-equipped foe. Additionally, it also introduces a new wrinkle to the equation with the introduction of muskets. The samurai learn the bandits have three muskets which changes the dynamic of the warfare between the groups. They find themselves literally bringing a knife to a gunfight and this battle against technological advances in weaponry makes for some great moments demonstrating what makes these samurai special. 

So much can be said about the greatness of this feature and while it feels basic to say, it still does stand as Kurosawa’s crowning achievement. Yes, he has a handful of other masterpieces and fantastic pieces of work in his history but this feature continues to operate the one that has created the largest cultural footprint nearly 70 years later. It operates as the greatest war film ever crafted filled with plenty of moments of levity, action, and drama. It runs at about 3 hours and 27 minutes but none of it drags even for a second as it delivers a spectacle for the ages and something living up to the reputation it has built. A whole meal of a film that will leave you completely full and satisfied.