I tried to find a trailer to start this post. I'm sad to say that all of the trailers for Seven Samurai are boring to watch. I don't see how anyone would have gone to see this movie if they saw the trailer!
Seven Samurai is a Japanese movie. Directed by Akira Kurosawa, it came out in 1954 in black and white. On the dvd you can turn on subtitles to understand what the characters are saying, but I'll get back to that. The movie is as follows:"The film takes place during the Warring States Period in Japans history (around 1587/1588). It follows the story of a village of farmers that hire seven masterless samurai to combat bandits who will return after the harvest to steal their crops."
This movie is 207 minutes long, but don't let that keep you from watching it. This film is lengthy but does ever become boring. The script took a tedious 6 intense weeks of script writing and 148 days of filming to be completed. While watching, you feel as if you are best friends with the characters and you become invested in their well being. Because the movie is so long, you have plenty of time to get to now the characters and understand each of their motivations. The film has many genuinely funny moments which I was not expecting. The fighting in the movie is quite well done, and it is not surprisingly the entire focus of the movie. Much of the time is devoted to things other than fighting, such as finding the 7 samurai, preparing the villagers to fight, and just plain fun. The movie is historically accurate to the period and it looks beautiful. The entire film is just plain cool to watch because of the camera shots. There are no unecessary shots and that really makes the movie a pleasure to watch.
A little bit about subtitles. Yes, the movie is subtitled, but that doesn't take away from it at all. The first time I watched Seven Samurai was my introduction to subtitles and after about ten minutes or so it became quite easy to read and watch at the same time. Do not neglect to watch this just because it is subtitled.
The Criterion Collection version of the dvd comes with 3 discs. The first two are the movie and the third has extra features such as interviews and trailers. The extras alone are very interesting and are worth a watch. The dvd also comes with a 52 page booklet with interviews with different people involved with the film.
There is also an animated version of Seven Samurai called "Samurai 7" and it is worth a watch too. The animated version however, is a more futuristic version of the movie, and is also presented as a tv show instead of a movie. The storylines are very close to one another.
I give Seven Samurai a 5 out of 5. It is my #1 favorite movie. Go watch it!
p.s. The stupid dvd didnt come in the mail today either...
Image via Wikipedia
