The Seven Samurai (1954) by Akira Kurosawa

The Seven Samurai is a 3-hour and-27-minute action adventure film that focuses on loyalty and trust. It was released in 1954 and is one of the most influential films in the world, which provides the basis for the modern heroic fictions in Hollywood in which a group of heroes come together to save the day.

The Seven Samurai focuses on the cooperation of seven Samurais to save the villagers from bandits and support the next harvest season. Rikichi, one of the villagers, scouts Samurais from the other town to save other villagers and his own village. Starting with Kanbe, the leader of the Samurai, Shichirogi, Heihachi, Gorobe, Kascushiro, Kujo and Kikuchiyo assemble with different characteristics, who train the villagers to fight and support them with harvesting. As time goes on, villagers can defend themselves from bandits and Samurais can create the plan for the fight. By assessing the sniper and provoking the enemy by one side, the villagers and Samurais eventually conquer the gang and achieve peace in the end of the film.

Halfway into the film  (86-min to 92-min), Kikuchiyo found old Samurai suits of armor in the village and brought them to the other Samurais, revealing that the villagers had taken them from other Samurais in the past, which angered the Samurais. Kikuchiyo then revealed that he was the son of the village farmer and not of royal Samurai blood, and that many farmers have also suffered at the hands of Samurais.

At this point, Kikuchiyo’s dialogue expresses a variety of meanings, explaining to the six Samurais the murders of other Samurais. He mentioned the possibility of the evil Samurai and there was no other other choice for the villagers. It depicts the reality of that time: not all Samurais are kind and generous like the seven. Secondly, it shows that the relationship between villagers and Samurais is fickle: just like the dead Samurais, the villagers can murder those seven without reason, and the seven can refuse to continue supporting the villagers at any time. This detail also criticizes the image of Samurais in fiction at that point. By showing that not every Samurai is kind, it denies the entire Samurai trope of being generous, benevolent gentlemen. The director’s choice shows the reality of Samurais in the past: not always wearing armor, having real, human complexities, and often abusing their power.