Movies You Must See – 7 Samurai

There are a number of motion pictures which pass into the culture and become ‘must sees’.   One of them is Seven Samurai.   This is a 1954 Japanese historical drama.   The  Seven Samurai is set in the year 1586.  

The time is important as it occurs during what is called the Sengoku Period.

At this time, Japan was a mix of political intrigue, military conflict, and social unrest.  Although the Emperor was supposed to be the ruler, he was more ceremonial, and power was in the hands of the Shogun, the top military leader.

There was a fight as who would be Shogun, for the current holder of the title was not popular. Many Samurai fought each other trying to get their candidate into the Shogunate.

At the beginning of the 15th century there had been devastating earthquakes which led to famines.   This put even more pressure on a bad situation.

This constant battling finally ended when Japan was unified under Tokugawa.  (The Book and Television Serial, Shogun, is based on this end time of Japanese history)

The movie tries to capture that time just before unification.   It begins with  bandits who want to capture a village, but  decide to wait until after the harvest.

A farmer, aware of the plans of the bandits,  discusses it with others, and they decide to hire samurai to defend the village.

As they have no money, it is decided to find hungry samurai and pay them in rice.

The Seven who are eventually chosen are done so by actions.

One was seen rescuing a boy who had been taken hostage.   He is approached by a young samurai who wants to be his disciple. The villagers ask them for help.

The Samuri recruit others, until there are Seven.  The Seven battle against the bandits.  There is a lot of death and blood.

The movie is very well done, the camera angles, the scenes, the plot, has caused Seven Samurai to be highly rated and has become one of the most remade and referenced films.

The most famous ‘copy’  is the Magnificent Seven which came out in 1960 to great interest and acclaim and is a Western Classic.  It follows a similar pattern of gunslingers being asked for help by a town under siege.

Seven Samurai provoked the interest in Japanese culture, especially the martial arts.