This is the seventh post on Curious Quill, and seems like a good time to talk about Shichinin no samurai, or Seven Samurai to me and you, Akira Kurosawa's masterful epic from 1954.
I watched this on Wednesday as part of my pointless DVD marathon, along with the last two episodes of the Dekalog as described in the previous post. I'd also rented Ran which I didn't get round to watching; I reckon one three-hour epic about samurai in ancient Japan is enough for one evening.
I had no idea that slow-motion had been used as early as 1954. I mean, it wasn't like watching an inane, plotless, self-indulgent and deeply unsatisfying Michael Bay film, all of which are crammed to the ears with needless slo-mo sequences, but there were a couple of bits in there. (Incidentally, don't expect a review of Transformers on Curious Quill. And no, I couldn't be bothered to link to the Bad Boys films.)
Anyway, Seven Samurai was a complete delight. For a film of its length, I was astonished how engaged I was for the full three-hour duration. The characterisation of the eponymous heroes, as well as a spread of farmers and villains, was astonishingly strong, and the script sharp enough that I imagine even the most subtitle-intolerant could be swept up in the story.
Watching the film reminded me how much I love Japanese cinema. I can't claim to have seen much - this is so far my only Kurosawa, and I've seen a few Miyazakis and a couple of horror flicks. I also have eight Takeshi Kitano films on DVD, they are my comfort food. It would be pointless and belittling to characterise all of Japanese cinema with one simple characteristic, but I do think the best films contain some intangible quality not found in Western cinema.
Promise the next post won't be so cinephilic.
I watched this on Wednesday as part of my pointless DVD marathon, along with the last two episodes of the Dekalog as described in the previous post. I'd also rented Ran which I didn't get round to watching; I reckon one three-hour epic about samurai in ancient Japan is enough for one evening.
I had no idea that slow-motion had been used as early as 1954. I mean, it wasn't like watching an inane, plotless, self-indulgent and deeply unsatisfying Michael Bay film, all of which are crammed to the ears with needless slo-mo sequences, but there were a couple of bits in there. (Incidentally, don't expect a review of Transformers on Curious Quill. And no, I couldn't be bothered to link to the Bad Boys films.)
Anyway, Seven Samurai was a complete delight. For a film of its length, I was astonished how engaged I was for the full three-hour duration. The characterisation of the eponymous heroes, as well as a spread of farmers and villains, was astonishingly strong, and the script sharp enough that I imagine even the most subtitle-intolerant could be swept up in the story.
Watching the film reminded me how much I love Japanese cinema. I can't claim to have seen much - this is so far my only Kurosawa, and I've seen a few Miyazakis and a couple of horror flicks. I also have eight Takeshi Kitano films on DVD, they are my comfort food. It would be pointless and belittling to characterise all of Japanese cinema with one simple characteristic, but I do think the best films contain some intangible quality not found in Western cinema.
Promise the next post won't be so cinephilic.
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