Seven Samurai: Do I see a self-sacrificial act on the horizon?
I'm halfway through Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, so let me begin by saying that if you respond to this post, please don't blow the ending for me before I can watch it.
I put Kurosawa off for years. Don't ask me why. I love nearly everything on the Criterion Collection, so much, in fact, that I have been plotting for about three years now to own the whole collection someday. When Borders has its teachers weekend, it's all Kate can do to keep me from buying whatever Criterion films borders happens to accidentally still have, like the original Solaris, wedged neatly between Snakes on a Plane and Spartacus, or more Ingmar Bergman. And while it's not a Criterion film, I'm probably the only person who owns the Decalogue who is still tempted to buy it every time I see it in all of its boxed-set glory.
Anyway, I'm finally watching Seven Samurai, and I completely see why it's a pillar of film. It's so witty, and the camera angles are great, and the music is awesome. Super subtle fight scenes amidst almost-clownlike acting.
One of the characters, Kikuchiyo, played by Kurosawa's main-man Toshiro Mifune, is introduced in the first hour as a total loser, who also has a tendency to seem a bit of an ass-hole, though he could be totally crazy. But you can see it coming, if you look hard enough. This guy is going to pull of a total Aragorn. Just as many of the humans thought Aragorn, also Strider, was just a "lowly" ranger, so too Kikuchiyo is dismissed as a clown, a wannabe samurai. I'm predicting now that he's either something along the lines of the long lost king of the samurai, or the savior of the village of the farmers. But, I don't really know anything about film, so my doozy of a prediction is probably way off.
5 comments:
What a great film series. One of my all time fav's. I envy your experience watching it for the first time. The last movie is, oh man, get ready . . .
Kurasawa is incomparable and Seven Samurai is one of the best, imho. But can I just say that I think an underrated American film is The Magnificent Seven. Of course it introduced hunky young stars like Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen. But I find it haunting and whimsical and well-shot and an unusually good job of a Kurasawa adaptation, with a few hokey hollywood moments set aside. Does anyone agree? Maybe it's just that I was so young and blown away when I first saw it? Also, tell us about Decalogue.
Janet, I have yet to see the magnificent seven, being one of the few westerns my dad didn't screen for me. The Decalogue was directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski, and was written by Kieslowski and a co-writer, Krzysztof Piesiewicz for Polish television. It aired in 1989. Each episode, about an hour long, is loosely based on one of the ten commandments, exploring the theme through the lives of several tenants in a large apartment building. I've watched and rewatched episodes, I've screened them in my intro to philosophy classes, and they get stronger every time. Kieslowski was brilliant. I can't imagine anyone not being blown away by the decalogue. wiki link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Decalogue
Save The Magnificent Seven for a great evening. It'd be especially good when with younger family members, I'm sure. (Or wouldl it be too slow for them now?)
Is Into Great Silence only in theaters? (It's not in Seattle, anyway.)
Janet, I agree that The Magnificent Seven is an excellent movie. Westerners are one of the few mediums which still house a mythology for us (or at least, did)
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