Seven Samurai - wow - what can I say - a Masterpiece
First off, let me say I saw this film the first time on the Big Screen a few years ago at the Uptown in Minneapolis as part of the re-release and cleaned print. This is one of the first Criterion DVD's I bought - (as part of a boxed set with three other Kurosawa movies)
it's also the first DVD I bought that was upgraded with the new master print, and the first Blu-Ray upgrade I bought - this is one of those films that belongs on the shelf of every serious film lover, period
This is the movie that inspired and created a love for Japanese Samurai cinema of all flavors (dramatic and swordplay) and made me a forever fan of Kurosawa - I have two books about his films, and I still plan on doing an "Akira Movie Marathon" someday after I get along a bit - I have to do a check but I believe with the recent release of Dreams and the two Eclipse box sets - (""Early Kurosawa"" and "Akira Kurosawa after the War"") that Criterion has a copy of his entire filmography although when I checked a couple years ago there might have been one or two they didn't have the rights to
I've also done a big study of Japanese History around this time - and the important thing to note about Samurai films is they usually fall in one of three time periods
the Sengoku Period - the time of war and unification of Japan - usually falling in the late 1500 - early 1600's - films like Kagemusha show the Samurai as soldiers and warriors during time timeframe
The Post-War/Pre-Restoration period - at this time Samurai stories either focus around Ronin or in some more excellent modern pieces like The Twilight Samurai, they are portrayed as bureaucrats and government officials who just keep the government running. There is a lot of great cinema in this time period especially the Samurai Trilogy of Yoji Yamada (The Twilight Samurai, The Hidden Blade and Love and Honor)
Finally, there is the Meiji Restoration, which briefly summed up, is the period of conflict between the Shogunate and Emperor resulting in the Emperor being restored to the head of power in 1868. There is some Cinema in this period - "(Assassin - 1964) and other films about the Shinsengumi that take place in this period - These tend to be a bit more action and swordplay but there are always exceptions
Seven Samurai takes place in 1586-7, in the middle of the Sengoku period where as they point out in the intro, attention was elsewhere during the civil wars and bandits had a bit more free reign. It's also worthy to note that most of Kurosawa's Samurai pieces were about Ronin - as one commentator put it, a real historical Samurai was fairly boring - he took orders and did stuff but the Ronin had room in a story to develop a bit
One last point I remember the commentaries I've seen and read - this is the first historical period piece to focus exclusively on Samurai that gained success in the West. Samurai were obviously in early historical films, and in films such as Rashomon. There were some swordplay films, and Japanese history is full of stories and legends of Noble Samurai, but this focus of them as the center of the story in a historical piece was fairly unique at the time, and it paved the way for the Samurai films to follow and would open the door for Samurai Cinema in the West
up next - my impressions on the film and extras
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