Seven Samurai : Akira Kurosawa

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                                "This is the nature of war: By protecting others, you save yourselves.

                                    If you only think of yourself, you'll only destroy yourself "

 

When I heard Kambei Shimada’s dialogue, a ronin, the leader of samurais starred by Takashi Shimura; I just press the pause button instantly to hear it repeatedly and felt a great pleasure and thought that is the essence of human artistic prestige that drive us to surrender to art both spiritually and philosophically.

 

If Rashomon [1950] was about technically triangular compositions then Seven Samurai [1954] is about cinematically crowd compositions. I am amazed with Akira’s skills of staging multitude of characters and controlling the crowd in a single shot and sequences as much as I was with Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin [1925] and October [1928].

 

When I had been watching the film and the tempo of the resistance to the bandits not only physically but also psychologically, I felt a strong and heavy urge to make a film on the many resistances we Bengali had to make. The tone and mood resonate with Akira’s childhood confrontation against his low spirits and humiliations depicted in his autobiography.

 



I think the sub-plot of romance between Katsushirō [Isao Kimura ] & Shino [Keiko Tsushima] and the rendezvous in the wood ornamented with floras and water streams is one of the most enchanting and heartwarming I have seen till now. The cinematic frames and depth of fields of the compositions are one the best in the world cinema.

 

                                                               Photo: Toshiro Mifune

I have enviously become an admirer of Toshiro Mifune’s compelling and realistic acting since I saw him as the bandit in Rashomon [1950] but he played the samurai in Seven Samurai [1954]. One thing common in both films is his playful acting and comedic gestures in the midst of most violent situations. He had the capabilities and gifts of being regarded as the oriental Chaplin, I think. I could not help but to google his profile and astoundingly found that he also starred in Akira's most of the finest and acclaimed films like Throne of Blood (1957), The Hidden Fortress (1958), and Yojimbo (1961).   Surprisingly, all of them are included in the shortlist from Akira.


I think anyone who wants to get the essence of Jidaigeki [Japanese Period Films] should watch Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai

 

Seven Samurai [1954]

七人の侍 [Japanese]

Akira Kurosawa

Japanese, Japan

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