Each of these contributes to a sense that this is "one story that is the result of many. The story takes place over the course of a year, and this passage of time is reflected in various ways: the changing of seasons, the regrowth of Kambei's hair, the arcs and resolutions of various side plots. "It's only through writing scripts that you learn the specifics about the structure of film and what cinema is"-Akira Kurosawa The film's first hour is devoted to the gathering of the Samurai and developing their characters, and even after that, the film still "takes its time to ensure that the audience knows what's at stake." In his review of the film, Roger Ebert wondered whether or not this scene " create the long action-movie tradition of opening sequences in which the hero wades into a dangerous situation unrelated to the later plot." "Seven Samurai" is about how the correct thing to do can be an easy choice, even if it requires hard work and sacrifice.The introduction of each of the characters is handled in a unique and novel way: when Kambei, the leader, is introduced, he is shown shaving his head to disguise himself as a priest in order to enter a house and rescue a hostage. Both The Mandalorian and Star Wars: The Clone Wars borrowed heavily from the plot of Seven Samurai for certain episodes. There is no divine right that entitles us to aristocracy, nor is there any situation so awful that we must become a bandit. During times of destitution, we all have the potential to be a bandit, and the potential to be a samurai. The premise: in chaotic 16th century Japan, as marauders threaten raid villages, one village hires samurai to defend it from a group of bandits. Its basic plot can be summed up in a single easy sentence, yet its refinement and execution rival any movie youve ever seen. The difference is that the samurai are moral characters who understand the profound humanity of defending another human being, while the bandits only care about self-gratification and destruction.Īs such, "Seven Samurai" is a morality play. Seven Samurai is unlike any other grand classic ever produced. Both the samurai and the bandits are as destitute as the villagers, and these groups are fighting over a modest patch of land and the food it might produce. He also set his film in the late 16th century for a reason: Since samurai culture was relatively splintered, and requirements were looser than they had been before, the setting allowed modern audiences to draw a parallel between the samurai and the bandits. Being a samurai was considered prestigious, but there wasn't always enough work to go around. And so many people, regardless of class, could break into the trade. (Kikuchiyo is a prime example of this: There's some ambivalence when we first meet him that he may just be someone with a lance and some armor who has never actually worked as a samurai before.) But this also meant that samurai were victims of the gig economy, often falling into destitution unless they could find a job. Thanks to improvements in weapons and armoring technology, more people had access to the equipment needed to become a samurai. "Seven Samurai" takes place in 1587, known as the Sengoku period, which was a time of great expansion of the samurai class. There is no simple way to sum up centuries of samurai history, as over the centuries, they served many functions: They have been a warrior class, a freelance military, courtiers, and professional entrepreneurs. Seven Samurai was Akira Kurosawa’s 15th film as a director and is perhaps the work that he is most strongly identified with. Samurai were regularly employed by the Japanese aristocracy until their abolition in 1876. Samurai emerged in 12th century Japan, where they served as specialized military protectors of the royal courts.
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