SETTING: the year is 1586, a quaint village in hills of Japan.
RATING: UNRATED, ACTION, DRAMA,ADVENTURE.
PLOT: A small Japanese village is exhausted from bandit raids. The leaders of the village decide to hire samurai to help protect the village as more raiders decide to attack.
QUOTE:Gisaku: What's the use of worrying about your beard when your head's about to be taken?
THOUGHTS: In the words of a 15 year old valley girl..."O.M.G.!!!" MY 2 FAVES ROLLED INTO 1!!! black and white and Japanese film. Akira Kurosawa is the most kick-ass director of his day!!! this man can create a story like no other!! Up to this point there have been very few movies to capture so many firsts. here's the list:
slow motion for dramatic flair and the reluctant hero to name a couple - are seen for perhaps the first time. Other movies may have used them separately before, but Akira Kurosawa brought them all together. First use of a scene which is now commonplace in cinema: The approaching horde coming into view as they crest a hilltop, specifically when Kikuchiyo sees the mounted bandits approaching.
this film is the shit!! ALL HAIL Akira Kurosawa!!!
SYNOPSIS: In Sixteenth Century Japan, a poor village is frequently looted by armed bandits losing their crop of rice. The village "Grandpa" advises the villagers to hire Samurai to defend the village. Four farmers head to town to seek out their possible protectors, but they just can offer three meals of rice per day and lodging for the samurai. They succeed in hiring the veteran Kambei Shimada. He advises that they need six other samurai to protect the village. Kambei recruits the necessary five other samurai and a brave jester the Samurai lovingly name Kikuchiyo. Moving to the village, they receive a feared reception. Kambei plots a defense strategy and the samurai start training the farmers how to defend their lands and families for the battle that approaches.
The preparations for the defense of the village continue apace, including the construction of fortifications and the training of the farmers for battle. Katsushir, the youngest samurai, begins a love affair with Shino, the daughter of one of the villagers. Shino had been forced to masquerade as a boy by her father who hoped the deception would protect her from the supposedly lustful samurai warriors.
As the time for the raid approaches, two bandit scouts are killed, and one is captured and reveals the location of the bandit camp. Three of the samurai, along with a guide from the village, decide to carry out a pre-emptive strike. Many bandits are killed, but one of the samurai, Heihachi, is struck down by gunfire. When the bandits arrive in force soon after this raid, they are confounded by the fortifications put in place by the samurai, and several are killed attempting to scale the barricades or cross moats. However, the bandits have a superior number of trained fighters, and possess three muskets, and are thus able to hold their own.
Apart from defense, the initial strategy of the samurai is to allow the bandits to enter a gap in the fortifications one at a time through the use of a closing "wall" of spears, and to then kill the lone enemy. This is repeated several times with success, although more than one bandit manages to enter the village several times.
When morning breaks and the bandits make their attack, Kambei orders his forces to allow all 13 remaining bandits in at once. In the ensuing confrontation, most of the bandits are easily killed, but the leader takes refuge in a hut unseen. In what is portrayed as dishonorable act, he shoots Kyz in the back from the safety of the hut, killing him. A despondent Katsushir seeks to avenge his hero, but an enraged Kikuchiyo bravely (and blindly) charges ahead of him, only to be shot in the belly himself. Although mortally wounded, Kikuchiyo ensures he kills the bandit chief, finally proving his worth as a samurai, before dying. Dazed and exhausted, Kambei and Shichirji sadly observe "we've survived once again," while Katsushir wails over his fallen comrades. The battle is ultimately won for the villagers.
The three surviving samurai, Kambei, Katsushir, and Shichirji, are left to observe the villagers happily planting the next rice crop. The samurai reflect on the relationship between the warrior and farming classes: though they have won the battle for the farmers, they have lost their friends with little to show for it. "Again we are defeated," Kambei muses. "The farmers have won. Not us." This melancholic observation sheds new light on Kambei's statement at the beginning of the film that he had "never won a battle." This contrasts with the singing and joy of the villagers, whose figuratively life-sustaining work has prevailed over war and left all warriors as the defeated party.
CONCLUSION: I know the synopsis was a little long winded, but YOU HAVE GOT TO SEE THIS FILM!!! DO NOT YET DIE WITHOUT THIS FILM EITHER IN YOUR COLLECTION OR UNDER YOUR BELT!! WATCH.....THIS.....FILM!!!!
My RATING: 5 out of 5. good Lord!! storyline, epic camera usage, characters, directors, writers, oh my!!
T.V. Guide rating:SEVEN SAMURAI 5 out of 5
Much imitated, still unsurpassed. By critical consensus, this is one of the best movies ever made
