Seven Samurai
I hate how people talk about the classics sometimes.
"You should watch this movie because it influenced all of cinema", "You should watch this movie because it revolutionised this technique"; shut up no one is going to watch your dinosaur ahh movie if your selling point is "this movie did it first, so it's automatically the best movie of all time."
I was pretty scared of watching seven samurai because of my first and only experience with kurosawa movies prior: Rashomon. While I did find the script to be competent, and I did like it overall, the pacing and tediousness of it all failed to capture me. I was fearful that seven samurai would have the same effect, one of those movies everyone tells me "You gotta understand it was revolutionary when it came out!".
I am so glad to be wrong.
Seven samurai is one of the greatest movies of all time not because it influenced all of action cinema, seven samurai influenced all of action cinema because it is one of the greatest movies of all time.
Seven samurai, all of them likable, honourable and badass in their own right, called for a singular purpose: to defend a village from evil bandits. They do not do it for material gain, but rather for duty and honour. This is a story of heroism of the purest nature. In that, there is a certain mythical quality of the plot, that I can't recall a single other movie ever reaching. The way the script shows you the horrors of war, the suffering of the villagers and the moral conflict of it all just gives the movie so much weight to it.
In fact, weight is the greatest description of this movie. The directing is simply revolutionary. Every shot in here is awe inspiring. Everytime Kurosawa moves the camera, there is weight in it. There is intention behind it. There's a steadiness in Kurosawa's direction, that gives the movie so much power. I don't even need to begin scratching the surface of how he revolutionised action cinema, because if I'm going to be honest, that's probably the least interesting thing in here for me. Which is an insane statement, considering how great the action is.
My favourite parts of Seven Samurai stem from the character moments. All of them are great in their own ways, but Kikuchiyo is easily the standout. I found Toshiro Mifune to be overacting a tad bit in Rashomon, but in here he perfectly fits the tone of the movie. He's not only hilarious as the wild card (he'd play a perfect Sun Wukong), but also surprisingly effective in emotional scenes. My two favourite scenes in this movie are essentially Kikuchiyo scenes: when he tells the samurai on why the farmers hate the samurai, and when he sees himself in the baby. He's a shockingly developed character for such a one dimensional archetype, that I have to applaud the script and Mifune for pulling it off.
What is the most surprising element of Seven Samurai however is how progressive the themes are. Kurosawa's critique on the traditional Japanese values of duty and honour are honestly incredibly shocking to a viewer like me who expected a traditional Japanese epic. The ending, without spoiling, is not one that celebrates or rewards the Samurai; rather it questions the entire premise of the movie. I can't believe I'm saying this, but Seven Samurai might actually be a deconstruction of the Samurai genre. It's so incredibly radical, especially when you don't see it until the very end, that it honestly threatens to undo the mystique that the 3 hours of movie magic puts unto you. I still have yet to grapple on whether this decision breaks or elevate the movie, but it does leave you with much to think about. (EDIT: seems like a lot of people interpret the ending in a much more positive light? idk, the tone of the ending definitely feels way more pessimistic than what people are making it out to be)
If I have any issues with the movie... maybe the editing? I can't believe I'm saying this but some scenes are a little rushed. I'm already in this for more than 3 hours, I don't mind letting certain scenes breathe.
I'm so glad I watched this movie. It's way more engaging, introspective, powerful, and radical than most discussions of Seven Samurai will lead you to believe. Let's talk less about the techniques and the influence, and more about how just fucking awesome this movie is.