"Seven Samurai" was released in 1954, which won the Silver Lion Award at the 1954 Venice Film Festival and catapulted Kurosawa to the ranks of world-class film masters.
The film makes the story of peasants hiring samurai to fight robbers with a strong epic charm, and the traditional Japanese bushido culture and the inferior nature of farmers are expressed in the complex film language.
It is both interesting to watch and cultural, and at the same time exudes a strong Kurosawa-style humanitarian spirit.
The general background of Japan's Sengoku period is divided and war-torn and strife, and Kurosawa focuses on the battlefield, portraying the down-and-out samurai and the suffering peasants living in the cracks of war, and deliberately directing the contradiction between the two.
The samurai killed and plundered the lives of the peasants, and the peasants snatched and killed the lone samurai, causing the samurai to be wronged.
However, the root cause was that in the context of war, disputes between daimyo made samurai chase power and profit, and the peasants in the sheltered area had no time to be taken care of, and bandits took this opportunity to cause trouble.
However, the seven samurai portrayed in the film are actually outside the mainstream group, and their personal contradictions with the peasants are not sharply opposed, but play a conciliatory function, reconciling the class contradictions between the samurai and the peasants.
At the end of the film, "We still lose, it is the peasants who win" represents the failure of reconciliation, and also shows that the emotional tendency of the film is actually biased towards the samurai, "peasant" becomes synonymous with interests, and the samurai are suspected and forgotten by the cunning peasants.
It is a kind of mourning for the decline of the samurai class, and perhaps also a profound reflection on the samurai's ambition and inability to stand on their own.
Character analysis
The worship of Bushido culture is reflected in most of Kurosawa's films, and the seven different samurai in "Seven Samurai" represent different aspects of the Bushido spirit, and together they outline the true samurai image of Kurosawa.
The film depicts the characters in a large space, and seven samurai appear successively, each with their own strengths.
Dressed as a monk to kill thieves, Kanbei is not afraid of danger and has great foresight, he appears in the image of an old samurai, behind which contains the precipitation and indifference of the half-life samurai road, which is why he attracted Katsushiro and Kikuchiyo as soon as he appeared.
In the subsequent arrangement and situation control against the bandits, he showed his rich combat experience and represented the "leader".
Katsushiro is the youngest of the seven samurai and has always embodied a childlike side. He had great ambitions in his heart, so he was attracted by Kanbei and worshipped him as a teacher.
The innocence and romantic feelings of the young man made him suffer in battle and love, and eventually grown. He was the future of the samurai class and represented "passion".
Kikuchiyo is not a samurai in the traditional sense, and can even be said to be the opposite of the ascetic samurai.
He was born into a peasantry, and he had an ambivalence of love and hate for both samurai and peasants. His cynicism and recklessness made him out of place among the seven samurai, but it also made him a link between samurai and peasants, representing "rebellion".
Kuzo appears in a duel and has excellent swordsmanship. In the battle to defend the village, he entered the enemy camp alone to grab firearms, and was able to stand alone but was not proud of his achievements, representing "force".
Heihachi is a middle- and lower-class samurai, and as a samurai, he can chop wood for food and embody peace with the situation.
At the same time, like Kikuchiyo, he undertakes more narrative functions, and the evaluation of Kikuchiyo in the film is mostly spoken through the mouth of Heihachi, reconciling the differences between Kikuchiyo and the rest of the samurai, representing "optimism".
Shichiroji is an old friend of Kanbei and appears as a "subordinate".
once escaped the war, but when facing the battle of possible loss of life again, he did not hesitate to agree, has long looked down on life and death, and in the whole film is mostly to carry out orders, representing "loyalty".
Goro Beibei is the only one who senses danger without entering the door, and his agility quickly arouses the favor of Kanbei, representing "wisdom".
Each of the seven samurai represents an aspect of the spirit of bushido, and the collection of seven represents the true spirit of the samurai.
In Kurosawa's characterization, each samurai has a clear character curve, a full image, and different personalities but also have something in common, namely a sense of responsibility as a samurai and a sense of failure that has no master to serve and no way to make achievements.
These commonalities led them to fight side by side, while also depicting the desperate situation of the samurai's decline.
Film language
Seven samurai, a small village, forty mountain thieves, three days, what was supposed to be a small local battle, but in the hands of Akira Kurosawa presented a magnificent battle scene and a tense atmosphere, all thanks to the intricate and complex language of the film.
First of all, "Seven Samurai" contains a lot of chase scenes, horses, fights, and wilderness, which is a typical "Western-style" characteristic. Kurosawa created a tight, intense combat rhythm with multi-camera, multi-viewpoint, and rapid editing.
In the battle between mountain thieves and samurai farmers, the running horses and the chasing samurai present a considerable visual effect, and the director uses sports shots to make the chase process more turbulent and exciting.
At the same time, in the mountains and forests, the multi-camera settings in the house, behind the crowd, under the horse, and between the railings show the combat situation from different perspectives of the same battlefield, filling every corner of the movie picture with the killing atmosphere of the battle.
The constant switching of close-up, medium, and far views also provides a fully stimulating visual experience. Although the combat strategy of the seven samurai is to release one horse at a time, through the language of the movie, it shows an epic scene effect that is no less than that of a large-scale war.
Most of the film composition of "Seven Samurai" uses upper and lower compositions, thanks to the 4:3 format and the topography of the village, its images can convey more information and sounds.
First of all, when the mountain thief first came to the village, he stopped on the mountain, the foreground was the mountain thief, and the back scene was the village at the foot of the mountain, the village seemed very small, as if under the control of the mountain thief, the active and passive relationship was well conveyed by the composition of the picture.
Secondly, Kikuchiyo followed the six samurai back to the village and also used this composition, the sky, the slope, the six samurai and Kikuchiyo formed a very appropriate position relationship, clearly distinguished.
Finally, the three surviving samurai face the four samurai tombs on the mountain, the figures occupy a small proportion in the foreground, the mountain extends upwards, and the tomb is high in the background, blocking part of the sky, which is very tragic.
Kurosawa used overhead shots to show the humility and passivity of peasants, and used back shots to show the height of samurai, and the status relationship of the characters was shown very clearly.
When Kanbei first promised to help the farmers, he said that he would not eat the farmers' rice in vain, with a bowl of rice in the foreground and three farmers standing in the background, showing the survival of the farmers and the preciousness of food through the picture information.
"Seven Samurai" as an early group portrait shaping film, its scene scheduling is also very complex, the film can see a large number of dynamic imagery, swaying branches and flowers in the wind, running crowds, horses, waving weapons, this part of the dynamic imagery is used to create a tense atmosphere, that is, the tree wants to be still and the wind does not stop.
The changes in the expressions and reactions of the characters in the film see through the ugliness of human nature, the psychological entanglement of different characters, etc., it can be said that although "Seven Samurai" was released in 1954, its film language is no less refined than modern movies.
Samurai and peasants
The first half of the film mostly shows the hardships and hardships of the peasants, and the samurai can help regardless of remuneration because the suffering of the peasants mobilizes the samurai's sense of responsibility.
In the film, the director uses the mouth of a gambler to introduce the samurai's understanding of the peasants, "They eat tares but let you eat white rice, they give everything they can."
Kanbei responds "I won't eat this rice in vain", which is the beginning of the samurai helping the farmers.
When the samurai entered the village, the image of the peasants began to diversify, and their awareness of protecting their own interests was too strong, so they were unwelcome after the samurai entered the village, and even before the samurai entered the village, the peasants began to worry about the samurai molesting women.
The peasant seems to be a group of "grass on the wall", but in fact, every individual in the group has a strong sense of individuality, and the basis of this personal consciousness is personal wealth - food, women, life.
At the beginning, the "father" of the village appeared as a wise man, managing the affairs of the village and being the main decision-maker.
He understood the peasants, so he interpreted the fact that the samurai were not welcome when they entered the village as "they are afraid of rain when it rains, and they are afraid of the wind when it blows"; But at the same time, he was also the most peasant, so when mountain thieves attacked, he could not leave his home outside the village and died on the spot.
When Dad died, the decision of the village temporarily fell into the hands of the samurai, but only because of a brief common interest came together.
As Dad said, "The mountain thief is coming, you want the head or the beard", the farmers in "Seven Samurai" are the most willing group.
Kikuchiyo's discovery of the peasants' hidden samurai armor and knives led to a climax of conflict between the peasants and the samurai
"What do you think of the peasants, think they are bodhisattvas, the peasants are the most cunning, they want rice or not rice, they want wheat and say no, in fact, they all have it, they have everything, lift the floor and look, if it is not underground in the storage room, you will definitely find a lot of things, rice, salt, beans, wine... Go deep into the valley and see hidden rice fields. Loyal on the surface but the most capable of lying, no matter what they will lie! As soon as there is a war, go to kill the disabled soldiers and grab weapons, listen, the so-called peasants are the most stingy, the most cunning, cowardly, bad-hearted, imbeciles, murderous ghosts. But who made them like this? It's you, it's you samurai, you're all going to die! What do you call the peasants to burn villages for war, ravage fields, work arbitrarily, humiliate women, kill rebels? What should they do! ”
Kikuchiyo, as the "triangle" in the battle banner, he despised both peasants and samurai, he was at the junction of two classes, witnessing the ugliness of both classes, and he had irreconcilable contradictions with both classes, which shaped Kikuchiyo's tragic fate.
Even if the long knife finally entered the grave, he became a real samurai, but it was still difficult to heal the hatred in the world, and the brilliant death was the slush claw of the samurai's title page, but for the times, it was just Taicang rice, insignificant.
The image of the peasant is ugly in "Seven Samurai". The dilapidation of the villages, the deception of everyone, the ruined appearance, all point to the ignorance and heavy evils of the peasants themselves.
The film focuses on the samurai's dedication and coldness, paying for doubts and forgetting, making the image of the peasant even more disgusting.
Obviously he is also a murderer, but he pretends to be the most vulnerable group, obviously there is food hidden under the floor but disguised as hungry, obviously there is a normal gender structure but he prefers to call his daughter a woman to dress as a man.
But conversely, farmers are also the most passive group in the entire social structure, and gamblers say "fortunately I was not born a farmer, it is better to be a dog".
In the war-torn years, they are undoubtedly the best "lambs", if there is no strife, who will be afraid, if there is enough food and clothing, who will regard money as life?
From the perspective of "Seven Samurai", Kurosawa loves samurai more than peasants, but it is clear that samurai and peasants are victims of the times.
Finally, the entire "Seven Samurai" takes the samurai as the protagonist, showing the era when cold weapons and hot weapons meet, and the loneliness of the samurai class.
As strong as Kuzo and unable to withstand the attack of muskets, Kurosawa used the cruelty of war and the withering of life to compose an elegy for the samurai.
The last four solitary tombs are the best way to close the curtain of the samurai's romanticism, and the three Kanbei who go into the distance are lonely people who continue to find a way out between romanticism and realism.
"Seven Samurai" was released in 1954 and is still one of the greatest works in the history of world cinema, and its shooting method provides the best model for subsequent martial arts movies, westerns, and action movies.
The humanistic thinking of Kurosawa in the film also provides unlimited reverie space for subsequent film creation.
As a fan, "Seven Samurai" brings the author more cruelty of knives and guns, human nature, indifferent times, and difficult to get warmth.
Non-professional film reviews, don't like it
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