Three and a half hours, without procrastination and tediousness. In terms of look and feel, I think this work is better than "Rashomon", "Ran" and "Shadow Samurai". Every frame in the film contains Akira Kurosawa's deep-seated, classical Bushido spirit. The iconic gale and sand are still used to render the atmosphere; the strong sense of depth and scene scheduling, and the accelerated version of the Bergman-style long shot all reflect Kurosawa's unique visual aesthetics. Among them, the depiction of the war horse is particularly amazing - cast in copper and iron, chasing the wind and day by day, shuttling through the deep forest. A large number of jump cuts and close-ups allow viewers to personally feel the solemn soul contained in the dust behind the Xiaoxiao dust raised by its strong limbs.
There are two scenes in the work that left a deep impression on me. The first is the scene where Shimura Bridge draws his sword and rushes towards the deserters when his army is at a loss. His movements are neat and tidy without a hint of hesitation, his eyes are firm and murderous, and he can feel his rich combat experience and extraordinary resume with just one dive, which is convincing. The second is the body language that he hid for a long time when he was ambushing the bandits - sitting in front of a tree, casually playing with wildflowers. At this time, the director constantly switched the screen between Kikuchiyo and Katsushiro, and the use of the contrast before the montage reflected Kuzang's superb martial arts skills and self-confidence in his own victory. He represents the highest state of Bushido and is the ideal samurai character.
The seven samurai symbolize the leader (Kanbei), justice (Kikuchiyo), martial arts (Kuzo), friendship (Shiroji), wisdom (Gorobei), broad-mindedness (Heihachi), and hope (Katsushiro). The collection of these seven qualities is what Master Kurosawa looks up to in the ultimate Bushido spirit. For Akira Kurosawa, who came from a warrior family and practiced kendo and calligraphy since he was a child, the fact that countless warriors in the post-Warring States period became a ronin with no support and eventually went to ruin is undoubtedly extremely painful.
Seven samurai warriors led the peasants to fight out of pity. Desperately fighting the bandits with no profit, sacrificing four companions... The peasants sang and celebrated their victory. The peasants here are fighting for survival. Their cunning nature makes them willing to pay any price for survival. The hypocrisy and ugly side is vividly reflected here. The samurai fought to uphold the spirit of Bushido, but they did not want to see the peasants being ravaged by bandits, and came forward out of justice. Yet the truth is so cruel that the fall of Bushido threatens their lives. They succeeded in sticking to their Bushido, but in exchange for it was the price of death.
One of the ideas Kurosawa strongly wanted to convey in his film was the despairing fate of the samurai warriors under the threat of a wave of hot weapons—the spirit of Bushido can preserve your dignity, but it cannot provide the most basic rights to be born— -life
To live for dignity or not to die
The commercial nature of the film is very high, and it can basically be seen that the Hollywood-style story framework of ups and downs is fascinating. I have to say that Toshiro Mifune's skills as a ruffian are really superb, and his image features in "Seven Samurai" are basically the same as Tajomaru played in "Rashomon". In contrast, Kikuchiyo in this film is shaped more three-dimensionally. The film blanks Kikuchiyo's life experience, so that his death is more tragic and tragic (his ass is so white). Another character that impresses me is Kanbei played by Shimura Hashi. It is not the character itself that gives me the impression that it is Shimura Hashi himself - the Minister of Citizens played by him in "Desire for Life" is too classic?, Watching the frail citizen minister strategize and kill the enemy, he can't help but act, but Shimurabashi's acting skills are absolutely unbeatable!
Akira Kurosawa's movie viewing journey is about to pass halfway, and we must cherish the few treasures of movie history he has left us.
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