Kurosawa is consistently heavily invested in exploring the reconciliation between class disparity, and I don't think this is a particular exception. Through the de-romanticisation of death and the lack of characterization in the villains, Kurosawa handedly marks the relationships and lives of the villagers and their protectors as the core center of the film. But it's not about either of these two distinct groups (the elite warrior class and the peasantry) 'learning' about each other, or 'seeing themselves' in each other. Instead, it is a simple presentation that they
are one, and the end of the Samurai (a core element of the film) is only an inevitable symptom of this fact.
This is why Kikuchiyo and Katsushiro are at the center of everything, and the most developed characters. They are, in their own ways, the least of the samurai, yet they seem to matter the most.
Kituchiyo is the most direct example of this 'oneness' between the two groups. He is literally *of both, and exemplifies the worst of each: the naivety and igorance of the townspeople, but also the excessive pride and arrogance of the samurai (the worst of them, anyway). But he also holds the positive traits. He has the heart and care of the people, but the drive and bravery of the warriors. He is the heart of the entire film. He dominates every scene in a masterful performance from Toshirō Mifune, and really exists as the crux of this complex relationship. His arc of understanding and care reflects that of everyone else, and everything he does is felt so powerfully.
Katsushiro literally represents the consummation of this relationship. He is the youngest of the samurai, hardly one at all, and thus seems to be only a portrait of naive innocence: a seeker of glory, with none of the skill and bravery necessary to be useful for the task at hand. Yet his love and youthful earnestnest ties everyone together as a visceral, literal representation of the contrived differences that separate people.
Yet the film is never really hopeful despite all this, and it seems to demonstrate that despite all this being the way it should* be, and even is when we are at our must vulnerable and human moments, the world seems to revert back to our imperfect, human constructs that drive us apart. The samurai may be gone, but the system remains the same.
Anyway, I'm not totally convinced that this is that accurate of a reading of this, but I had fun thinking it up and I think there's some fair truth to it. Onto a few brief other notes, Kurosawa is an absolute master of composition. Some of these shots... oh my god man (the entire Katsushiro-Shino-Manzo sequence - just incredible). The emotional range is also just insane. Every shot there is so much to look at, so much being presented. It's so crazy how foundational this is for, like... everything.
Akira Kurosawa Ranked |
Criterion Challenge 2026
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