#58: Seven Samurai

Release Date: April 26th, 1954

Format: Theater (Long Beach Art Theatre in Long Beach, CA)

Written by: Shinobu Hashimoto, Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni

Directed by: Akira Kurosawa

4 Stars

What do you want me to say about Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai? The man is a monolith in cinema, and this is arguably his magnum opus. I’m not going to be able to bring much to this discussion that hasn’t already been said.

While watching it last night, I was reminded of a Mark Twain quote: “A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read.” That is the only criticism I have of the film. It’s a classic in the sense that it is hugely important and masterful, but most people see it once, if at all.

I had seen Seven Samurai once before, a decade ago, at home on Blu ray, and I jumped at the chance to see it again when I saw that it was playing at the Long Beach Art Theatre. It’s the type of setting that forced me, in a way, to sit down and devote energy to a 3 ½ hour movie that rewards your devotion.

And the reward is enormous. I thought about the movie on the walk home and this morning. The scale of the movie, both in time and physical space, is hugely ambitious. And as large as the film is, it is just as intimate. Kurosawa treats a broad sweep of a mountain range with as much care as a close up of Takashi Shimura’s wizened face. 

But here I go, writing things about Seven Samurai that have been written to death, and written more eloquently. I might as well write a review of the Grand Canyon or the Mona Lisa. 

I’ll conclude by saying that I enjoyed Seven Samurai. It’s a masterpiece. I’ll look forward to seeing it again in another decade. Meanwhile I’ll watch Windy City Heat for the hundredth time probably by the end of the year.