Seven
Samurai review
Spoiler Alert
At number 16 of top 1000 films of
all time, we have this 1954 Japanese adventure film.
What’s it about: Set in 1586
during the warring states period of Japan, it focuses on a small mountain
village who are terrorised by local bandits.
The villagers then enlist the help of seven samurai to wipe out the
bandits.
The good: I knew
very little about the Warring State Period of Japan, so I can’t comment on the
historical accuracy of the film’s emotional poignancy. Within the group of Samurai and the village
itself, there is a very strong sense of collectivism, love and loyalty. The seven samurai are essentially a band of
brothers who are united by their bands of brotherhood. In their ongoing battles with the Bandits,
they lose four of their number and each loss is excruciatingly painful for them
and for the audience too. The same goes
for the villagers who are visibly distraught at seeing the bandits burning down
their homes and killing their people. In
two separate and very powerful scenes, the film portrays the true horrors of
war. The first sees a mother whom
despite having a fatal spear wound manages to escape from her burning home in
order to get her child to safety in an incredible strength of willpower. The second sees one of the villager’s wives
after being beaten and raped and left in her burning home by the Bandits,
chooses to stay in her burning home rather than living in the shame of being
raped. These two scenes were such a credit
to the film, as they showed the true horrors of war.
The Bad: As this
film was made in the 50’s, it is of course terribly unfair to criticise it for
its production element. No. My main trifle with the film was its extreme
length. At 3 and a half hours it is at
least the longest film I have reviewed, let alone seen. As it was so long, I watched it in two halves
with an eleven hour gap in between.
However, this meant that I did have trouble remembering and placing what
had happened before. Further, I was also
getting very bored and restless by the film’s end.
The ugly: The whole
film is 210 minutes long. 210 minutes.
Rating: Good
Whilst this film does engage well
with sensitive topics, its extreme length was definitely a drawback for me.
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