Seven Samurai 4K 1954

I saw the film, which was a significant milestone in the development of cinema, only a couple of years ago. I must confess that the film made the strongest impression on me. Akira Kurosawa, undoubtedly a great director, put into his masterpiece all the wisdom of the East and all the talent of an artist, creating a stunning image of a true samurai. This film was later successfully reshot in the United States. ‘The Magnificent Seven’, although it became a classic, was still deprived of the deepest meaning that the Japanese director put in his work.

Kurosawa's epic, more than three-hour production depicts the social life of Japanese peasants with grandiose accuracy and precision. The film's plot is simple, but simple only at first glance. The cunning Japanese director manages to speak out on all the problems that are urgent and worrying him for more than three hours. Social inequality, the search for a spiritual leader, the clash of characters and much more.

For me, these seven samurai have become a symbol of struggle and confrontation, a symbol of freedom. It was they who were able to unite a village that was terrified in the face of the enemy. Kurosawa has very accurately captured the trends of the time, everything looks frighteningly authentic. The director's attention to every detail, to every little thing, is astonishing. We can say that for post-war Japan, the picture became a kind of a symbol of good and virtues. The Seven Samurai are presented by the director as if they were superheroes, in the context of that time, of course, it was so.

The brilliant role of the great Toshiro Mifune, for which he is beloved by many generations. His incredibly charismatic and flamboyant character keeps the audience's attention while watching, and makes you empathise with yourself like no one else in this film. His character - Kikudzie - a complex fate, which was influenced by the caste of samurai. In the course of the film, Mifune's character utters several heartbreaking, existentially meaningful lines that remain in the memory for years to come.

‘Seven Samurai’ is a great film, filled with high poetic beauty of images and characters, and deep social and philosophical meaning. By showing the samurai's humanism, compassion for the common people and fantastic bravery, Akira Kurosawa created an incredible cult following. His work is worshipped by many modern directors, including George Lucas, who used some of the ‘Seven Samurai’ characters in his ‘Star Wars’. The film has been quoted and parodied many times, one might recall Pixar's ‘The Adventures of Flick’, but the original remains incredibly relevant to this day.