Never Seen It #224: Seven Samurai

But then who made them such beasts? You did! You bloggers did it! You burn their villages! Destroy their farms! Steal their food! Watch 400 movies you've never seen before! Force them to labour! Take their women! And kill them if they resist! So what should farmers do?

Seven Samurai

1954

Akira Kurosawa

Thanks for Group A for coming out to add to the discussion for this week's movie. Good news! There are seven of us this week. Hop down into the comments to discuss which of the seven contributors this week is which of the seven samurai.

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Vinny

This one gets a 4 out of 5 from me.

It's impossible to overstate how influential this movie was on modern filmmaking and narrative storytelling, and similarly impossible to separate the movie itself from its outsized reputation. But I'll try. I gotta admit that I love Kurosawa, so I'm a little biased about this one. 

I love the way he takes time to sketch out each of the main samurai's personalities, especially 

Kikuchiyo. You start to understand the characters' motivations beyond just wanting free millet for their troubles. 

And speaking of Kikuchiyo, his death really bummed me out, and reinforced the film's final message of the victory being only the peasants'. 

The love story between the little rich boy and the peasant girl was a little forced, in my opinion. If it had been cut, the movie would've been fine. Conversely, I loved the foreshadowing of the one villager reacting so violently when someone mentions his wife, and the payoff of him seeing her again in the bandit camp. 

My favorite aspect of this movie, however, is the cinematography. Those long, lingering, and sweeping shots of the landscape and the way the camera pauses on actors' reactions is nothing short of art. 

If I had to criticize one thing, I'd take issue with the length. The movie really, really drags in the middle, and I often found myself questioning why certain dialogue and plot points were seemingly repeated. But then again, maybe that's my cellphone-addled brain demanding more dopamine from shorter and concise stories, which usually come at the expense of character building. 

If you like Westerns, as I do, you'll love this movie, which feels like a primordial form of later movies to come in the '60s, '70s and beyond.

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Allison

Not exactly a hot take, but I generally have a problem with movies that are over two hours long. Maybe it's my waning attention span from my crippling phone addiction, but if you can't tell a story in 120 minutes, maybe you're not a good storyteller. The Wolf of Wall Street is 180 minutes long (groan), Oppenheimer is 181 long (grooan), "The Snyder Cut" is 242 minutes long (grooaaaan); at a certain point, it's just vanity. Pay your editors! Cut down your movies!

That said, at 207 minutes long (with an intermission; why did we ever stop doing that?), Seven Samurai did not feel excessive. I wouldn't exactly describe myself as "engrossed," but I was definitely engaged. I even managed to put my phone down and refrained from Googling a single thing during our viewing. Now, this is quite a feat, considering I could not have known less about this movie, genre, culture, or time period if I tried. Japanese cinema of the 1950s, referencing Japanese culture of the 1500s—two huge, gaping blind spots. So, it's hard for me to judge a film when I have nothing to compare it to.

It is obviously an immensely impactful film. Seven Samurai's influence is so evident that the movie feels at times clichéd. This movie invented the idea of assembling a team to kick ass; without it, movie theaters would have been wiped out in the mid-2010s. I'm interested in seeing more of Kurosawa's work, especially his other collaborations with Toshiro Mifune, who plays the unhinged and often ass-out Kikuchiyo. While I don't consume much Japanese media, I instantly recognized his exaggerated mannerisms as typical anime characteristics. I would also be interested in learning more about Bokuzen Hidari, whose portrayal of Yehei, the human grimace emoji, absolutely tickled me every time he was on screen.

I liked it, I'm glad I watched it, but I probably won't watch it again.

One unanswered question remains: what's so bad about millet?

3.5/5

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Brianna

Seven Samurai: a film often regarded as one of the most influential in cinematic history, watched as (I'm sure) director Akira Kurosawa always imagined—in 45 minute intervals on my school laptop during the last week of school. 

In a way, I feel like I may have done the film a disservice by watching it in this way. The movie theater enthusiast in me can imagine how much more enthralling the tale would have been in a larger scale format. I feel certain that the b&w film and the subtitles would have kept my attention better at least. Getting through this thing was a struggle.

Not to say that I didn't enjoy it. I did! A good deal actually once everything started to come together. A mix of classic movie plot points with feudal Japan as a backdrop, there was a lot in there that I appreciated. I chalk my struggle up to my busy week rather than the movie itself.

With Shōgun's recent time in the spotlight still lingering in my brain, historical Japan specifically remained intriguing to me in many ways as I began my time with Samurai. To be honest, I was a little surprised to find that these two stories take place in roughly the same time period, but after sitting with it for a while, it does make sense. 

Shōgun is a story of the feudal lords, where wealth and status demands rigorous following of the culture norms. Respect for word and language seemed to drive almost every interaction. Seven Samurai is about those on the direct opposite of this social system, the peasant farmer. In this world, poverty and survival are at the helm and decorum is less stringent. 

And yet these world's coexist, as they do today, and often impact each other. I mean, would the farming village be in the position they were in with the roaming bandits if the shoguns were not too busy fighting each other to take care of those on their lands? The rich and powerful fight their wars and the common people struggle because of it. 

We see a lot of this struggle in the movie. Poverty at its cruelest, war at its least humane. Somehow in the midst of it, you have these Seven Samurai who are willing to fight against that. They're endearing from the start in that way. Who doesn't want to root for the hero looking out for the common folk? 

4 out of 5 Pukes!

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Stephan

— Swords are cool... but never bring a sword to a gunfight. I'm sure having multiple samurai die at the hands of a musket-wielding marksman is a commentary on modern technology and obsolescence of samurai culture, but I would have preferred less gunplay and more sword fighting because, frankly, swords are badass.

— Very effective cinematic techniques—Kurosawa artfully captured the chaotic nature of battle. The choreography is a bit unpolished—deliberately so, in my opinion, but it is still very thrilling and well-executed.

— Standout performance: the obvious standout here is Toshiro Mifune, who plays Kikuchiyo.  He delivers a layered and thoughtful performance. It's the best written and fully developed character in the film, and Toshiro is giving a 100% effort. He makes me genuinely interested in watching more of his films. 10/10. 

— Balance: One of Seven Samurai's strengths lies in how well it balances drama with humor. It's obviously not an overt comedy, but I like that it has small moments of humor and doesn't take itself too seriously all the time. The use of big, overexaggerated facial expressions/movements and lightly comedic situations makes the film feel less heavy. In particular, the samurai recruitment scene where Kambei has Katsushirō stand by an entryway and attempt to strike a prospective ally. This reminded me of some anime in which absolute silliness is thrown into the middle of an otherwise dark and/or serious situation.

— Lengthy runtime: no movie should exceed the three-hour mark. My wandering mind can't focus that long.

— Lackluster endings for the samurai: I don't need a ceremonious ending for all of the samurai, but not a single one gets a satisfying end. Heihachi, the first to die, is fatally shot and killed. Not only does it happen so quickly that it's unclear what has transpired, it's completely overshadowed by Rikichi's hysterics in response to his wife's death. Gorōbei is killed off-camera. And, Kyūzō and Kikuchiyo suffer the same fate as Heihachi—death by musket. The movie denies the viewer time to mourn. Even the remaining samurai get very little out of their victory. Katsushirō doesn't get the girl in the end. Shichirōji remains useless—he is truly forgettable and gave very little. And, Kambei, who should at least feel a sense of pride for fulfilling his duty to the villagers, says "the farmers won, not us." The farmer's gain greatly outweighed their sacrifice, whereas the samurai sacrificed greatly with little return and no progress in the long run. The surviving samurai return to their ronin state, directionless and masterless.  All of this is likely curated by Kurosawa to highlight the futility and cyclical nature of war, but I would have liked ONE happy end for the heroes. 

Rating: 3.8 out of 5 bowls of rice (fuck millet!)

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Zach

For a movie that came out in 1954, I was surprised at how modern it felt. The way the characters talked to each other at times felt like it was straight out of the therapy playbook. I can't keep track of all the specific characters and names, but here are a few examples: 

• Two of the samurai talking to each other. One is bottling up his feelings. The other calls him over. "Unburden yourself," he says.
• Kikuchiyo cradling the baby in his arms. "That baby is me," he said. Such emotional depth that I wouldn't expect from the post-World War II era. Maybe Japan had a head start on that that the US didn't have because it was forced to reckon with total devastation at home after the war.
• Katsushirō saying to Kyūzō, after he retrieves the musket, "you are a magnificent person!" Again, a deep emotional relationship.

The way the movie treated the love story between Katsushirō and Shino also felt very modern. We saw Shino being beaten by her father, and we thought it would just be a typical old-school dead in the water story, Romeo and Juliet style, where two star-crossed lovers cannot be together. But no! We have a character talk to the father. "These things happen," he essentially says. True love winning out against tradition! Color me surprised for a movie from the '50s.

If I felt like getting into historical significance, I would look at the rice vs. millet conversation, and the significance of each. I couldn't focus on every detail of this movie, though. There were just so many. I have to give the movie credit. For three and a half hours, it never felt too long to me. If anything, it ended abruptly. It still meant I couldn't focus on everything.

There were a few other elements I wanted to highlight, though. The role of laughter was interesting. The Japanese laugh is different from the American one. It's mocking, a little bit. It doesn't always mean they think it's funny. (Although the joke that Kambei made about Katsushirō now being a "real man" was a sick burn, on par with the comedy roasts you'll see on Comedy Central today.) There was also a ton of running in this movie. Why did everyone always run after each other? What's it trying to say? It definitely contributed to the sense of urgency in the movie. It also felt funny. Did they use stunt doubles in this movie? If not, that's a very demanding role for the characters. It was a well-cast movie, and everyone played their role so, so well.

Yohei might have been my favorite character. His faces were so absurd and incredible. His death could have been prevented, but he also had to die. The camera focused too much on him for anything else to happen. He was cute, sweet. I liked him. The relationship between Kikuchiyo and Yohei was a beautiful one.

"Are we all going to die tomorrow?" Shino asks. "There's no way to know. But we might!" Kikuchiyo responds. I wish I could internalize that more. Even in times when death is closer than others, I wish I could internalize that more.

GRADE: 4.5 out of 5

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Catherine

Despite my attempts at neutrality, Seven Samurai's reputation was harder to escape than a ronin's blade, so I found it difficult to get out of my head while watching. Almost every scene transition had me wondering if the film was living up to the immense title of greatest movie of all time. I know that assessment isn't helpful until AFTER you've seen the movie, if ever, but I couldn't help it. It reminded me of finally seeing the Sistine Chapel in person after years of studying photographs. Expectations through the roof, I prepared for an experience that would change me in a profound way, and somehow it didn't quite live up to that fantasy—but how could it?

Scrolling through Reddit hoping to inherit a perspective, I stumbled across this argument: 

A lot of the times people bag on the "classics" (in any media, really) I feel like this is the root of the problem. Something that has established so many genre conventions we are used to now and been borrowed from so many times by other works has a tendency to not seem remarkable at all to modern viewers.

To be clear, I'm not "bagging" on Samurai, but it is difficult to transport your 2025 self to 1956 for a whole three hours and 27 minutes (butwhoscounting). This is a film I very much appreciated and probably will never watch again which is a fact I don't want to be true. I want to be an insatiable cinephile that can hold court at a party and explain why Kurosawa was the best to ever do it. Something about telephoto lenses! Multiple cameras! Interchanging slow motion and regular speed! I want to want to watch this "masterpiece" 100 times and get something new out of every go-around, but there are only so many hours in a lifetime and I simply cannot play fast and loose with my time like that—unless it's on reruns of Frasier or Forensic Files or Gilmore Girls or scrolling through my cursed telephone for hours on end. While I struggle with my own movie-related self-image, here are some things I definitely without a doubt LIKED about this movie:

• For an epic, the plot is refreshingly simple. Roving bandits threaten to raid a village of farmers (giving them until their next harvest, in an oddly reasonable move for career criminals), then a very specific number of samurai step in to save the day. Got it.
• I was moved by the samurai's incredible sense of honor, laying down their lives for no reward but service to society—all while fighting with their entire butts out, Winnie the Pooh style.
• Seven Samurai apparently directly inspired A Bug's Life, which directly inspired A Bug's Land at Disney World which indirectly inspired me to throw up as a child, a very formative experience for me. In this regard, Seven Samurai has shaped me more than any other film.
• Nearly every frame of this movie makes for such an incredible photograph that I'd like to paper my walls with it. A world-weary samurai surrounded by a bed of daisies. A withered old man meditating in front of a water mill. Breathtaking.

As a rube, the classics can sometimes feel like homework to me, but this one is undeniably important. Above all, I'm excited to finally recognize its impact on other films that I've missed until now, which seems crucial. Like finishing your vegetables so you can scarf down your tooth-rotting Marvel cinematic desert.

Rating: 4 out of 5 hidden barrels of sake

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Joe

I'm sure everybody's gonna talk about the length, and why wouldn't we? This was a long-ass movie. Too long. We can all agree there. Pam and I had to spend three nights watching it, and it was only three because I had Father's Day to press her to finish the second half that night, like "c'mon, it's Father's Day, you have to stay awake." (There's a good chance that this film made her quit Film Club.) We can talk about what could be cut to make this a tight 150 minutes. There's a lot! Maybe you don't need endless scenes of some dude trying to make sure his daughter stays a virgin! I get it. I get your frustration. I was right there with ya. But I think that it might be helpful to look at it from a viewpoint of: it was long, so let's talk about what was great about it, and try our hardest to justify the length, even if many of us in our heart of hearts know it's just not true.

One thing I'll mention right here at the beginning is that I like the second half a lot more than the first half, which dragged a little bit. But let's think about this. I have read that Seven Samurai basically invented the whole "let's build a team of heroes to defeat the villain" trope. It feels like such a basic and ubiquitous premise that it's kind of insane to think that it hasn't always existed. (Being told Seven Samurai invented the team-up action movie feels like being told that the dude from Yankee Doodle Dandy wrote "You're a Grand Old Flag.")

But let's take Ebert et al. at their word for this. Seven Samurai is inventing tropes, in real time. And so I think some optimism might be that the film needed just a little extra time to put the tropes into existence, since it was the first time, and they weren't tropes yet. I think I'm making sense? Maybe not. Think about how much time a dumb Marvel movie would need to explain that they were gathering superheroes to form a team to defeat the bad guy. Basically none, right? Because you know what they are doing. There's a shorthand. But not with Seven Samurai. You can't use shorthand because this sort of thing has never been done.

Because Seven Samurai did it so well and so particularly, you basically see hundreds or even thousands of action movies do the same exact thing over 70+ years. You can talk about direct references (The Magnificent Seven, a remake that somehow did not make the Film Club list, so we'll have to save it for the Expansion Pack in 2027), you can talk about major influence (George Lucas was very upfront about Seven Samurai influencing Star Wars), you can talk about oblique trope use (the aforementioned superhero movies, the mentioned-too-often Fast and Furious movies, etc.). Seven Samurai is here, blazing the path that so many others would walk. Of course that's gonna take more time. You gotta explain to the audience (through showing, through telling) what is happening here!

The pop culture relic that was on my mind as I witnessed Seven Samurai unfold was Game of Thrones. A clear influence on that TV show, mostly in the way that a battle is planned, and then enacted on the screen in grand scale. I was thinking about the battle at King's Landing, with Tyrion coming up with a plan and then the thousands of anonymous extras carrying out that plan. That felt like what I saw here, with the samurai leader Kambei stoically leading the "good guys" to victory through meticulous planning and lots of courage.

I put "good guys" in quotes, because I think Seven Samurai does a good job in giving that phrase nuance. Depending on how you view it, this might be the most important through line of the film—the line between good and evil is often blurred. The farmers initially fear the samurai because samurai have throughout history destroyed the farmers' way of life. The farmers initially hide from the bandits but then all rush out to kill one, but only once he is captured. The samurai are hired hands and have to earn their skin in the game. The farmers dismiss them once the task is complete, despite the heavy casualties. The bandits themselves are former samurai, and choose to continue to attack the village instead of retreating. The 16th-century Japanese caste system makes it difficult for all these folks to work together in the first place. It's all pretty complicated! And yet, for the most part, we get to see the joys of people from different walks of life coming together for a common, and noble, cause. It's no wonder to me that the trope of "bringing the team together" took off like it did.

There's no segue into this, I just need to write about it before I end my piece: shoutout to Kikuchiyo for being fucking hilarious. I did NOT expect to be laughing during this movie, but Toshiro Mifune is clearly an incredibly talented actor, and brought so much to this fucking role (after the credits rolled, HBO Max recommended four movies, and all four had a picture of Mifune on the cover, including Rashomon, which I didn't realize the connection until that moment). The part where he took the battle gear of the bandits and sat next to one of them to steal his gun was a hoot. The gag with him riding the horse behind a wall and then the horse emerging on the other side sans Kikuchiyo was priceless. Then, of course, his turn from comedic relief to hero was memorable (another trope created here, I'm sure). The whole thing with his love/hate relationship with Yohei and then both of them finding the best of themselves in each other's bravery... I mean, that's the shit I watch movies for.

Being a long movie, there is just so goddamn much to discuss, but let's see what everyone else thought first.

GRADE: 3.5 pukes out of 5

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GROUP AVERAGE GRADE: 3.9 pukes out of 5

Thanks again to all those who joined us today. If you're reading this, come down to the comments and continue the discussion!

(NEXT TIME: We hop aboard the Russian Ark for a tracking shot.)