Shichinin no samurai / Seven Samurai

[KuKulzA]

I saw this old movie recently. I must say it is now one of my favorite movies. There is action, there is plot, there are characters you can identify with. And it is cool how they show the gathering of Ronin, the training of the town, etc. I also like the slow-motion kills and bandits visible on the horizon and coming down the hill.... these things now so commonplace in modern film. It is a little long but that didn't bother me. It sends a powerful message though... neither righteous nor criminal warriors win in the end. Heihachi ket their spirits up and was killed on the raid of the bandit fort. For all Kyuzo's skill he is killed too. Kikuchiyo was perhaps the bravest in the sense he wanted to be a Samurai and was actually an orphan peasant, but he proved his worth in the killing of the Bandit King. For all their charm, skill, and courage... four of them died to gunfire and in the end the last three are 'disposed of' by the villagers who no longer need them. Katsushiro was true to Shino but was then abandoned by her... like in the end, all that is left is the mind of the leader Ronin, the courage of his second-in-command, and the heart of his young semi-disciple... the skill and charisma, other attributes of Samurai, died... but heart, courage, and mind remained, even though all warriors lose in the end.... as long as the farmers have their land, their work of life-giving... whereas warriors, in their work of life-taking, must move like the wind, cause they lose in the end... whether noble or evil

It is a sad movie in essence, because you end up rooting for the Samurai who set aside the pride they are given by their status, and as Ronin, protect the village and rally the villagers to bravery, yet in a sense their nobility is their own undoing. I think it has some important messages about martial arts. Much better to difuse a situation than have to use your martial skill, and if you must, chose your fights, since nowadays, it is nearly impossible to counter a gun.
It says a lot though, I mean when it was made the japanese had lost WW2. The producers and actors put heart and soul into this and it's better than most movies I have ever seen, its up there with my other 'favorites'

How do you guys feel about it?

[Mormacil]

Still need to see it, proberbly let you know when I'm done.

[Kodama]

Yep, "Shichinin no samurai" is the best black and white movie, that's for sure.
All of kurosawa's movies are good, make sure you have seen "Ran", "Kagemusha" and "kakushi toride no san akunin" aswell :bananarock:
Ran is my favorite (it's color).

[Corthian]

Kyuzo, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

You just brought up bad memories. You know that the scene at the begining with the monk and the rice balls, well that was a true story. The samurai who did that was Kamiizumi Nobutsuna, he founder of the Yagyu Shinkage-ryu style of swordsmenship. That little stunt also got Nobutsuna a certificate of zen mastery.

[KuKulzA]

Originally posted by Kodama
Yep, "Shichinin no samurai" is the best black and white movie, that's for sure.
All of kurosawa's movies are good, make sure you have seen "Ran", "Kagemusha" and "kakushi toride no san akunin" aswell :bananarock:
Ran is my favorite (it's color).

Ran
Kagemusha
kakushi toride no san akunin

are they all about as good as Seven Samurai? cause I don't wanna devalue my experience by watching a lesser type of film, I wanna know what to expect, know what I mean?

Originally posted by Corthian
Kyuzo, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

You just brought up bad memories.

bad memory, is that good or bad on my part?

[Kodama]

Shichinin no samurai
Ran
Kagemusha
Kakushi toride no san akunin
I forgot to mention "Kumonosu-jo" (spider web castle, better known as: Throne of blood).
I also forgot to mention "Yojimbo", and "Sanjuro"

They are all samurai movies of the same movie director (Akira Kurosawa), so the chances that you will like them are pretty good.

A scene of Ran on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNyUv2x7gHI
A trailer of Kagemusha (ignore the music, it's trailer music) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8s0ZWYSvdw
A trailer of Kakushi toride no san akunin (the hidden fortress) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51F3DTDzr1M
A trailer of Kumonosu-jo (throne of blood) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSllRT8pVBA
A trailer of Yojimbo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YArp_JuwWAA
A trailer of Sanjuro (Yojimbo 2, and ignore the music again) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKW2jTQ8CgA

[KuKulzA]

cool!

---

[/hr]

So who's everydoby's favorite character?

I like Kikuchiyo the most....

heeeeeyyaaaaiii!!!!

He's born a peasant... but wishes to prove himself a true warrior. Yet he has his faults... his cruel humor and his occasional falling to vanity and vice... but in the end, he is a solid man, angry, but reflective... he is full of anger and courage, yet has the wisdom to see what the other Ronin couldn't... that it is the warriors who force the farmers to dishonest and grubby ways... I dunno... this guy is just badass as well... I like the others but I like him most, and I was both pleased and angry that he was killed in the end... pleased because he proved himself a great warrior, on par with the Samurai (Ronin technically)....
I have a feeling the lineage scroll he stole was owned by the same Samurai whom he stole the Otachi from... or maybe he stole it from a Shinto temple since by that time otachi were less commonly used and replaced by Katana and Wakazashi right?

[Kodama]

I like Kikuchiyo the most too, mostly because of the reasons you already mentioned, and i just like big swords

If the story is suppost to be from after about 1630AD, then swords of his length were illegal unless it's a temple sword, or special permission was granted.
If it's from before 1630AD, then those swords were more or less common (they are quite rare compared to other weapons).
I think the story is just before or just after 1630AD (lots of ronin and bandits during that time).

Have you seen the youtube trailers i posted?

[KuKulzA]

yeah I seen the one for Ran and waiting for the others to load...
Ran looks pretty cool, all I can tell is there's a assault on a castle and a betrayal...

[Kodama]

Originally posted by KuKulzA
yeah I seen the one for Ran and waiting for the others to load...
Ran looks pretty cool, all I can tell is there's a assault on a castle and a betrayal...

Oh yes, there is a LOT of betrayal in that movie, it's about three brothers, two of them betray their father (the assault on the castle) and then one of those brothers is betrayed himself, ofcourse there is a woman responsible for all the betrayals, no happy end for this movie