Seven Samurai (1954)

Akira Kurosawa is one of Japan’s most famous directors. His influence on other directors has been very big, someone like George Lucas was inspired by Kurosawas movies and the Magnificent Seven is a movie that is based on Seven Samurai. With this movie Kurosawa was the first to use various techniques in one movie. Examples are the shot of the bad guys appearing on top of a hill or the slow motion shots.
Seven Samurai is set in feudal Japan. When the villagers of a small town find out that there is a gang about to raid the village just when the crops are harvested, they decide to search for samurai that can defend their village.

With a length of three and a half hours Kurosawa has taken his time to tell this story, but it is something you will not notice while watching it. Every scene just fit perfectly and added to the story, with the climax of defending the village. It’s a big achievement to be able to make such a long movie with no unnecessary scenes.
Finding the samurai, preparing the environment and the attack itself have all been shot beautifully and are engaging to watch. Because there is enough time to spend with the samurai and the villagers you will start to feel for them.

The samurai that stood out for me was Kikuchiyo (Toshirô Mifune), who, despite the serious subject, offers some fun during the proceedings. It was a role which wasn’t fully written, which allowed Mifune a lot of opportunity to improvise. He’s convincing and was able to mould the role into an unforgettable character.

Seven Samurai itself is also unforgettable and has earned its place in the IMDB top 250. Make sure you have the time to watch it, but once you do you will be treated to a masterpiece in filmmaking. Highly recommended!

Score: 9