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First things first, this is a LONG movie, clocking it at around 220 minutes, but strangely it never seems to drag. Some movies are short, yet feel like they last for hours. This movie was the complete opposite, it really zipped by thanks to an excellent plot, superb directing and fantastic acting by everyone involved. A village in Japan is constantly attacked by Bandits every year. The villagers decide to fight back by hiring a group of Samurai to protect them. This is not as easy as it sounds when all you can offer in payment is three meals a day. A veteran Samurai takes pity on the villagers and agrees to help them, in turn he recruits more men to his cause until there are "Seven Samurai" or rather five samurai, a trainee and a crazy person.
The movie is divided into two "halves" the first being the villagers recruiting the Samurai and then the Samurai training the villagers into being capable of protecting themselves. The second part is the battle with the bandits. For an epic movie there is a fair amount of comedy, thanks to the involvement of Toshirô Mifune who plays the role of the crazy Kikuchiyo to perfection. Sure, he seems like a nut, but underneath all of his insanity lies the heart of a man who wants to help and be respected.
This is a magnificent film in all aspects, here are just two examples of why I think so. In once scene the bandits send three scouts ahead to see what the villagers are up to, the Samurai have to chase them down to stop them reporting back, so they send three of their group to dispatch of the scouts. One of the men is a well respected and trained Samurai, the other is an apprentice with no experience, the third is Kikuchiyo (the unpredictable crazy guy) they arrive where the bandits horses are tied in the woods before the scouts arrive, and they wait.... and wait... and wait. You get a full two minutes of the camera looking at the faces of the three Samurai as they wait for the scouts to arrive. Will the inexperienced one fall apart when the time arrives? will the crazy one do something unpredictable to endanger his friends, can the leader of the group hold things together? It's a simple process, but because Kurosowa leaves the camera on them so masterfully, the tension builds and builds and builds as the men wait for the scouts to arrive. It's simple, yet genius.
In another scene, the Samurai burn down the bandits huts to take some of them out in a preemptive attack. Inside a hut, there are various women who have been captured and are slaves of the bandits. One of the women sees the fire start, and looks at it in fear. Then looks at the bandits, knowing that if she tells them of the fire, she can escape, but she also knows that if she does not tell them, she will die and so will they, and that is a better fate than being held captive by them. All of this takes place in about ten seconds on a womans face. She never speaks, but you KNOW what she is thinking. Once again, simple but genius.
You really owe it to yourself to watch this classic piece of cinema.Read full review
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