A Film Addict Reviews! Seven Samurai

I am an avid gamer. I’ve played the likes of Red Dead Redemption 2, Overwatch and most recently, Apex Legends. One game I have recently enjoyed a lot is Ghost of Tsushima. For those who don’t know or have ever played it, It is the story of a samurai, whose whole clan has been wiped out to the mongols. It is up to you, to save the island of Tsushima to save the mainland of Japan. I have had a lot of fun playing it and I’m genuinely excited for the new update that’s coming out this Friday. In honor of this update, I wanted to see one of the inspirations for the game. So, without further ado, I present to you Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai.

1954’s Seven Samurai is about a village of farmers is under attack by a gang of bandits. They go to the elder and ask him what to do and he says to hire samurai. The farmers manage to find seven samurai and help the village of farmers from the gang of bandits.

The Story

Story wise, it is not a very complicated story but it does feel pretty drawn out. What it does do nicely though is show how qualified all the samurai are and what their personalities are like in comparison to each other. All the samurais felt like different people in comparison to all the scared farmers and to each of the seven members. It was really well told and it covered everything you needed to know to progress through the story in the 3 hours and 30 minutes.

The Acting

The actors of the seven samurai portrayed them very well. I wish I knew their names but they are so noticeable by how they act. My favorite one and the one I will pretty much just dive into is the funniest samurai. The actor did a good job of being funny and yet serious. For me, he was the absolute best part of the film and I’m gad he was focused on more than some of the others. Even during the big climactic fight, he still managed to pul out a laugh or two with the fact he needed five swords to fight off as many of the bandits as he could.

The Cinematography

This is another shining point for the film. Akira Kurosawa is known for his everything in focus shots along with wind and dust being kicked up. I have no idea how this man managed to pull that off but it is something filmmakers can learn from. These shots are normally wide shots and managed to have everything in focus in the entire frame. Even Akira’s framing of the shot is excellent. If you were to pause the film at any point, it would be a fantastic still of a picture. Akira’s use of wind and dust was displayed only to add more movement or add emphasis. It does not seem like he did not know what he was doing at all. This film warrants all the praise it gets.

Opinion and Verdict

After watching Seven Samurai, I can see all the inspirations that this has touched. A lot of Ghost of Tsushima has taken stuff from this, and I’m sure plenty of others to make a masterpiece of a game. I even notice some similarities between this and Star Wars. It was an interesting trip through film history and I am glad I finally found the time to actually watch it. In regards to my recommendation this is what I will say; if you are into film history and want to know about the influences of modern films and westerns, I would highly recommend this. If you want to pass out to a movie and don’t really care so much about anything than a blockbuster, do not watch this.

If you enjoyed this review, please read my last one: Tag