Eiga Sai 2018: Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai
It was my first time watching Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" (1954, Japan). That is, on the big screen in a 35mm version. In fact, it was already my third time. The first was at a film club screening at CCP some years ago, having a VHS tape (or perhaps a Betamax tape) projected on a wide screen. The second was through my own DVD copy of the film, a Criterion edition. A big screen showing of a classic film is a seldom thing in our country, so when something like this comes by it's a golden opportunity that should be grabbed. No small thanks to Eiga Sai, an annual festival of classic and contemporary Japanese films held during the months of July and August, we were treated to a special screening of Kurosawa's masterpiece at the UP Film Institute.
A noted Filipino film critic once said that "Seven Samurai" is his favorite Kurosawa film (while Yasujiro Ozu's "Tokyo Story", another masterpiece, is his favorite Japanese film). It isn't hard to see why. Even with a running time of nearly 3 1/2 hours, "Seven Samurai" keeps viewers glued to their seats because it has a very well-told and entertaining story. This was something that I witnessed during its nearly fullhouse screening at UPFI, where I observed that not one captivated soul walked out (I hope no one dozed off, too). All the seven samurai are fully-realized human beings, the battle scenes are thrillingly staged and Kurosawa's aesthetic touch is something to behold. This is certainly the high watermark of Kurosawa's distinguished filmmaking career, a film that redefined the samurai genre, influenced generations of filmmakers and, in the words of UPFI director Patrick Campos, changed our lives. "Seven Samurai" is a testament to the transformative power of cinema.
It's an astounding feat of the film that it both managed to be entertaining and to explore complex moral themes. There's no neat demarcation of what is good and what is evil here. The farmers, whose harvest is always under the threat of being pillaged by the bandits, aren't always shown to be grateful and kind. The samurai, who are employed to protect the farmers in exchange for free meals, aren't treated as saints either. The farmers, because of a history of atrocities, look at the samurai with suspicion and disdain;while the samurai would rather lend their services as long as there's a good amount of wealth in return. Since the farmers have been suffering from the invasion of bandits for so long in feudal Japan, they are left with no other choice but to ask for the help of the samurai even if it's against their will. Given their dire situation, it seems that choosing the lesser evil would be the most sensible course of action. In such hard times (deprivation, disaster, war, etc.), social divisions might actually collapse and moral principles might become ambiguous. Those who lend their help might need one themselves and those who are being helped might exhibit some forms of behavior that make them less deserving of the help.
The "Seven Samurai" title isn't just a mere nominal designation or something that exists for its own sake. When it says "Seven Samurai", it really is the "Seven Samurai". That is, each of the samurai is an individual in his own right, no one is left out or taken for granted and no one is given more spotlight than the others. For instance, Kambei (Takashi Shimura, a frequent Kurosawa actor) serves as the group's logical and methodical foundation;Katsushiro (Isao Kimura) is a youthful inexperienced samurai who's undergoing his baptism of fire;and Kikuchiyo (Kurosawa's muse Toshiro Mifune) is the volatile and brash black sheep, who's actually harboring a contempt for the samurai because of a family tragedy. Then we have an amiable and cheerful fellow (Heihachi), a second-in-command (Gorobei), a loyal friend (Shichiroji) and a quiet yet highly-skilled samurai who's looked up to with respect and admiration by Katsushiro (Kyuzo). Throughout the 3 1/2-hour running time, we get to know and live with these seven memorable characters. So much so that when tragedy strikes some of them, we mourn for the loss. Though each one is a character of his own, they are all united by the samurai codes of bravery, honor and selflessness.
The battle scenes in "Seven Samurai" are among the best that has been put on film. As shown in his subsequent works, Kurosawa has a special gift for handling large crowds and ferocious battles. They're as visceral as they can get. The director's eye for composition and camera movement is unmistakable. The climactic battle in the rain, where the samurai and the farmers fight off the remaining thirteen bandits, is one of the most thrilling action setpieces you'll ever witness onscreen, ranking alongside the battle on ice in "Alexander Nevsky" and the Odessa steps massacre in "Battleship Potemkin", both by Sergei Eisenstein (in recent cinema, the riot in mud in "The Raid 2" aspired to such heights). Under the heavy morning rain, bodies fall on mud, throng of people ward off an invading bandit on horseback and some lives are tragically lost. As emotions are stirred up, so are the heavy skies. By the end of it all, it's as if the viewers have involved themselves in the fiery battle. Not even the numerous demise of superheroes in "Avengers: Infinity War" can hold a candle to the emotional climax of "Seven Samurai".
Kurosawa directed a number of films that feel like you've just read an immensely good novel (no wonder, as he had adapted some of Shakespeare's plays;there was even a Dostoevsky novel). "Seven Samurai", his fourteenth film, is one such film. Its epic breadth and depth are definitely to be savored. Indeed, the 3 1/2 hours spent inside a cold and dark theater are a pleasurable cinematic experience, aesthetically, philosophically and emotionally. So much so that before you noticed it, time just flew by. The ironic thing is that you wish you can hold on to the experience forever. Such is the power of a great film. A great film like "Seven Samurai".
A noted Filipino film critic once said that "Seven Samurai" is his favorite Kurosawa film (while Yasujiro Ozu's "Tokyo Story", another masterpiece, is his favorite Japanese film). It isn't hard to see why. Even with a running time of nearly 3 1/2 hours, "Seven Samurai" keeps viewers glued to their seats because it has a very well-told and entertaining story. This was something that I witnessed during its nearly fullhouse screening at UPFI, where I observed that not one captivated soul walked out (I hope no one dozed off, too). All the seven samurai are fully-realized human beings, the battle scenes are thrillingly staged and Kurosawa's aesthetic touch is something to behold. This is certainly the high watermark of Kurosawa's distinguished filmmaking career, a film that redefined the samurai genre, influenced generations of filmmakers and, in the words of UPFI director Patrick Campos, changed our lives. "Seven Samurai" is a testament to the transformative power of cinema.
It's an astounding feat of the film that it both managed to be entertaining and to explore complex moral themes. There's no neat demarcation of what is good and what is evil here. The farmers, whose harvest is always under the threat of being pillaged by the bandits, aren't always shown to be grateful and kind. The samurai, who are employed to protect the farmers in exchange for free meals, aren't treated as saints either. The farmers, because of a history of atrocities, look at the samurai with suspicion and disdain;while the samurai would rather lend their services as long as there's a good amount of wealth in return. Since the farmers have been suffering from the invasion of bandits for so long in feudal Japan, they are left with no other choice but to ask for the help of the samurai even if it's against their will. Given their dire situation, it seems that choosing the lesser evil would be the most sensible course of action. In such hard times (deprivation, disaster, war, etc.), social divisions might actually collapse and moral principles might become ambiguous. Those who lend their help might need one themselves and those who are being helped might exhibit some forms of behavior that make them less deserving of the help.
The "Seven Samurai" title isn't just a mere nominal designation or something that exists for its own sake. When it says "Seven Samurai", it really is the "Seven Samurai". That is, each of the samurai is an individual in his own right, no one is left out or taken for granted and no one is given more spotlight than the others. For instance, Kambei (Takashi Shimura, a frequent Kurosawa actor) serves as the group's logical and methodical foundation;Katsushiro (Isao Kimura) is a youthful inexperienced samurai who's undergoing his baptism of fire;and Kikuchiyo (Kurosawa's muse Toshiro Mifune) is the volatile and brash black sheep, who's actually harboring a contempt for the samurai because of a family tragedy. Then we have an amiable and cheerful fellow (Heihachi), a second-in-command (Gorobei), a loyal friend (Shichiroji) and a quiet yet highly-skilled samurai who's looked up to with respect and admiration by Katsushiro (Kyuzo). Throughout the 3 1/2-hour running time, we get to know and live with these seven memorable characters. So much so that when tragedy strikes some of them, we mourn for the loss. Though each one is a character of his own, they are all united by the samurai codes of bravery, honor and selflessness.
The battle scenes in "Seven Samurai" are among the best that has been put on film. As shown in his subsequent works, Kurosawa has a special gift for handling large crowds and ferocious battles. They're as visceral as they can get. The director's eye for composition and camera movement is unmistakable. The climactic battle in the rain, where the samurai and the farmers fight off the remaining thirteen bandits, is one of the most thrilling action setpieces you'll ever witness onscreen, ranking alongside the battle on ice in "Alexander Nevsky" and the Odessa steps massacre in "Battleship Potemkin", both by Sergei Eisenstein (in recent cinema, the riot in mud in "The Raid 2" aspired to such heights). Under the heavy morning rain, bodies fall on mud, throng of people ward off an invading bandit on horseback and some lives are tragically lost. As emotions are stirred up, so are the heavy skies. By the end of it all, it's as if the viewers have involved themselves in the fiery battle. Not even the numerous demise of superheroes in "Avengers: Infinity War" can hold a candle to the emotional climax of "Seven Samurai".
Kurosawa directed a number of films that feel like you've just read an immensely good novel (no wonder, as he had adapted some of Shakespeare's plays;there was even a Dostoevsky novel). "Seven Samurai", his fourteenth film, is one such film. Its epic breadth and depth are definitely to be savored. Indeed, the 3 1/2 hours spent inside a cold and dark theater are a pleasurable cinematic experience, aesthetically, philosophically and emotionally. So much so that before you noticed it, time just flew by. The ironic thing is that you wish you can hold on to the experience forever. Such is the power of a great film. A great film like "Seven Samurai".
("It's the farmers who won, not us", muses Takashi Shimura as they look up at the burial grounds of their fallen comrades at the poignant end of Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai")
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