Shichinin No Samurai

The Mighty Warriors Who Became the Seven National Heroes of a Small Town

Well, Seven Samurai is the best action movie that I ever seen. Why? bcoz this is the most logic action movie. You won't find a super hero with big muscle but no brain, you won't see a single man destroy hundred of soldier, you even won't find an angel between that seven person.

All you will see just the spirit of seven samurai to defend a poor village from the robber with the help of all the villagers. And, they are soooo human, so they can bleed, make a mistake and even die. The robber are humans too, so they have a brain and it's impossible for a single man to destroy all of them. Salut to the director Akira Kurosawa (1954).

An "average" samurai film focuses on a sword-wielding, superhero-type individual who battles his way through the story, often triumphing over a seemingly overwhelming host of foes. Seven Samurai offers us flawed protagonists, some of whom are not skilled fighters, and one of whom is often drunk, belligerent, and decidedly non-heroic in his approach. The odds are impressive, yet, in large part due to the melancholy tone adopted by Kurosawa during the closing scene, the victory is hollow, and almost feels like a defeat. Especially when you heard The lead samurai's final words: "So. Again we are defeated. The farmers have won. Not us."

The story begins when several of the village's men, lead by a hot-head named Rikichi (Yoshio Tsuchiya), grow weary of the annual raids of the bandits, they decide to act. Since the citizens do not have the martial ability or skill to fight, Rikichi seeks mercenary samurai who are willing to defend the settlement in return for food and lodging. The seven men who accompany Rikichi home are a diverse lot. They include the sage Kambei (Takashi Shimura), a great leader of men; Kikuchiyo (Toshiro Mifune), a burly clown whose prowess with a sword does not match his arrogance; Kyuzo (Seiji Miyaguchi), a quiet master swordsman who lets his weapon speak for him; and young Katsushiro (Isao Kimura), who idolizes Shichiroji and Kambei. Also in the party are Heihachi (Minoru Chiaki), Shichiroji (Daisuke Kato), and Gorobei (Yoshio Inaba).

After teaching the men of the town how to fight and preparing the village for its defense (building fences, flooding the rice fields, and tearing down a bridge), the seven samurai await the inevitable coming of the 40-odd bandits and the battle that will determine the peasants' future. The battle is make sense, they should use their brain to defeat all teh bandits. When they try to use a trick, the same trick doesnt work for three times bcoz the bandits have brain too.

There is a conflict too between the samurai n the farmers. In fact, this conflict is at the heart of Kikuchiyo's character. In the film's most crucial scene, Kikuchiyo presents to the other samurai armour and weaponry that the farmers had kept hidden in a secret cache, expecting them to be pleased at the discovery of these new resources. Instead they are disgusted, knowing that the material would have been stripped from the bodies of dead or murdered samurai after battle. Their anger grows and they even contemplate slaughtering the villagers.

In a performance of overwhelming emotional intensity, Mifune's words make Kikuchiyo realizes that their ignorance and hypocrisy explaining that, while the farmers are dull, wicked, murderous and cowardly, it is the samurai who have made them so, by plundering, burning, raping, and oppressing the peasants on behalf of their warlords.

Well, Despite its drawbacks (a lack of "three dimensionality"), he frequently uses the "deep focus" camera technique to keep everyone in focus, regardless of their distance from the lens. He rarely resorts to close-ups, and, when he does, there's a specific reason. The way he put the camera reminds me on "Srimulat" stage, so the audience can see all the actors in the stage.

Ok, no need to talk much. Seven Samurai is a great movie and you should prove it by urself.