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Seven Samurai (1954, Jp.)
(aka Shichinin no samurai)
In Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece set in the year 1586
- and later used as a template for the western The Magnificent
Seven (1960), it was about a Japanese peasant village protected
from roving hordes of bandits by seven unemployed, recruited samurai
or ronin (swordsmen), who were compensated with three meals of rice
a day and lodging:
- the 16th century epic plot was set during the Sengoku
Period, a lawless time of civil wars when farmers were at the mercy
of ferocious brigands of bandits, who galloped on horses across
the screen in the film's opening; a bandit chief and his captain
peered down from a high-angle on a mountain village but decided
not to ravage it once again for its rice and barley, until the
harvest came in: ("We just took their rice last fall. They'll have
nothing now"); in the village, the peasants moaned and cried out:
"Is there no god to protect us? Land tax, forced labor, war, drought,
and now bandits! The gods want us farmers dead!"
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Hordes of Bandits Roaming the Countryside and Considering
Attacking a Village
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- the villagers discussed what they might do in the
future: Should they surrender their harvest to the bandits, or
fight back against them?; a young farmer Rikichi (Yoshio Tsuchiya)
strongly suggested that the villagers should fight back and not
bargain with the bandits - "Kill or be killed,"
but an older farmer named Manzo (Kamatari Fujiwara)
disagreed - he recommended for them to submit to the bandits: "The
farmer's only choice is to endure. We can't defy the powerful.
When the bandits arrive, we'll greet them meekly and quietly hand
over all our barley. We'll plead with them to leave just enough
for us to survive"
- the villagers decided to seek the advice of
the town's elder-patriarch Gisaku (Kokuten Kôdô), who
spoke briskly: "We fight...We'll hire samurai"; some were troubled
and questioned: "Whoever heard of farmers hiring samurai?", especially
samurai who were known to be proud; the elder responded that the
villagers should hire those who were unemployed or hungry: "Find
hungry samurai. Even bears come down from the mountains when they're
hungry"
- in the town, initial efforts over a ten-day period
to directly hire samurai were frustrating and unsuccessful, since
most refused what they called "charity" for only three meals a
day, or were unsuited and weak; but then some of the villagers
witnessed the cunning rescue of a young 7 year-old male
hostage from a thief that changed everything
- in a powerful sequence, wise veteran leader ronin
(samurai warrior) Kambei Shimada (Takashi Shimura) disguised
himself as a monk (with head shaved and dressed in priest's robe)
to rescue the child hostage held in a village hut by a kidnapper-thief;
he calmed the kidnapper: ("I'm just
a monk, I mean you no harm") and offered food (two rice-balls)
to feed the upset child; but then, in an intercut edited sequence
with various crowd reaction shots while wielding a sword, Kambei
killed the man who ran out of the hut and fell face-forward dead
(in slow-motion)
- Kambei's rescue brought forth another young
samurai named Katsushiro Okamoto (Isao Kimura), who begged to be
Kambei's disciple-acolyte; he was insistent ("I'm determined to
follow you whether you allow me to or not")
- when the farmers asked Kambei (and Katsushiro)
to help defend their village, the offer was accepted, and he went
on to recruit four more warriors to begin; he theorized that at
least four men would be needed to guard the open field area in
the front of the village, and two more to help guard the rear (up
against the mountains)
- in addition to the six warriors in total, he recruited
a burly, wild and arrogant Kikuchiyo (Toshiro Mifune), who turned
out to be the black sheep of the group
- Kikuchiyo discovered traditional Samurai armor
from dead warriors that had been secretly hidden by the villagers
- it was most likely that the villagers killed injured, fleeing
or dying samurai from other nearby battles
- while wearing some of the
armor, Kikuchiyo ranted at the other samurai, calling them, in general,
rapists, thieves, and overall mean, stupid murderers - he clearly
identified with the plight of the villagers: ("What did you think these farmers were anyway?
Buddhas or something? Don't make me laugh! There's no creature
on earth as wily as a farmer! Ask 'em for rice, barley, anything,
and all they ever say is, 'We're all out.' But they've got it.
They've got everything. Dig under the floorboards. If it's not
there, try the barn. You'll find plenty. Jars of rice, salt, beans,
sake! Go up in the mountains. They have hidden fields. They kowtow
and lie, playing innocent the whole time. You name it, they'll
cheat you on it! After a battle, they hunt down the losers with
their spears. Listen to me! Farmers are misers, weasels, and cry-babies!
They're mean, stupid murderers! Damn! I could laugh till I cry!
But tell me this: Who turned them into such monsters? You did!
You samurai did! Damn you to hell! In war, you burn their villages,
trample their fields, steal their food, work them like slaves,
rape their women, and kill 'em if they resist. What do you expect
'em to do? What the hell are farmers supposed to do?")
- after his emotional speech that revealed his
own peasant upbringing, the sobbing Kikuchiyo sank to his knees,
and swore: "Damn... damn... damn... damn..."; after a long pause,
Kambei asked him: "You were born a farmer, weren't you?"
- it was a surprising revelation that Kikuchiyo wasn't a samurai
after all, but the son of a village peasant
- the climax of the film was its final rain-soaked
battle (the third day of fighting) in the mud during a torrential
downpour, between the villagers (and the samurai) against about
40 armed bandits (who demanded the villagers' rice)
- the ending shot was Kambei's view of the graves or
funeral mounds of four dead comrades (each with a samurai sword sticking
out), with his words: "We've lost yet again. With their land,
the farmers are the victors, not us"; beneath the samurai
mounds were the graves of the fallen villagers
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Village's Circle Meeting and Discussion: What Should
Be Done About the Bandits?

The Opinion of Older Farmer Manzo: Submit Meekly
to the Bandits and Not Fight Back

The Old Man Gisaku's Suggestion: Hire Hungry Samurai To Protect the Village
Samurai Kambei Shimada

Kikuchiyo (Toshiro Mifune)

Rain-Soaked Battle Between Villagers (and Samurai) and the Bandits

The Graves or Funeral Mounds of Four Dead Samurai
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