Disc Reviews

Seven Samurai Blu-ray Review

• 24th Apr 2014

As cinema is coming of age it is celebrating (or capitalizing) on anniversaries of benchmark dates and films. This year would be the 60^th anniversary of Akira Kurosawa’s influential Seven Samurai, perhaps one of the best known and seminal of Japanese films. The films backstory has a history of its own. Akira Kurosawa was an artist before he fell into becoming a filmmaker during World War Two where he made a propaganda film as well as a couple of bushido (or historical martial-art films). His breakthrough came with the intelligent and artful samurai film Rashomon in 1950, surprising Cannes and became for many, film buffs, fans and otherwise the first Japanese film they had ever seen. Throughout his career he alternated making these historical films with the gritty reality of modern life and its struggles in such films as Ikiru (Living) (1952). But it is Seven Samurai that Kurosawa is best known and will be best remembered for. Following the success of Rashomon Kurosawa suddenly became a more and more autocratic filmmaker, much to the chagrin of his film company, Toho. With Seven Samurai, in Kurosawa’s mind he could do what he wanted. It took him one year to make and was to be his longest running film at almost 3½ hours. The director’s attitude was they’ve spent enough on the film, they’re not going to stop production now. On top of this he caught all the changing seasons of the village in which it is set and filmed on location, with all the hardships that entails.

The story might seem familiar, but this is the original: in late 16^th century Shogun era Japan a village is under threat from marauding bandits and ex-samurai. In their despair and fearing their crops will be plundered the villagers need help and plan to recruit a handful of samurai to help them defend themselves. They have little to offer other than food and during hungry times they offer food and shelter to samurai mercenaries in return for risking their lives. One wannabe young samurai goes to the big town to begin the recruitment process. This then becomes the first film of this type in which a group of characters are hired heroes that would become a staple for such films from The Dirty Dozen (1967) to A Bug’s Life (1998) and most importantly The Magnificent Seven (1960), the film which became a direct Hollywood western remake of Seven Samurai. Over the years Kurosawa has been credited as being a most influential director on Hollywood and it has often been written that he was widely influenced by Hollywood himself, especially the westerns of John Ford. However, on the accompanying talk on the BFI disc, Japanese cinema expert Tony Rayns explains that in a meeting he had with Kurosawa the director would get annoyed at such statements, claiming that he was influenced by many things but not especially western films, and was very much a Japanese director.

Whatever the case this is an epic and very smart film. At almost 3½ hours long the film is a lengthy epic. As such on its release and for many years it was shorn of over an hour of footage to appease and not put off western viewers and remained as such until a recent Criterion release in the US. Conversely the shorter version had the negative effect of actually slowing down the action, highlighting the masterful editing style of the action. Therefore the BFI release here is the version and length the director intended and should be seen at this length. The battle scenes when they arrive are worthy of the wait, with the final battle and attack on the village carried out in the rain and mud. Ground breakingly, Kurosawa used multiple angles and cleverly had them edited together to keep the action tight and at close range giving real expression of the effects of mud and rain. It was rumoured that ink was put into the mud to blacken the rain water but this is certainly not verified here or in the wonderful accompanying booklet.

This film, like many of Kurosawa’s releases have been released by BFI before but here is given a re-model with the steelbook 60^th anniversary edition in a film that is worthy of multiple viewings and should be listed as one of those ‘to be before you die films’. Do not be put off by the length, Seven Samurai is worthy of the time investment.

Chris Hick