Seven Samurai and What it Means to go Beyond Yourself

By Christopher Barr │POSTED ON JANUARY 13, 2020

七人の侍

Kambei Shimada 島田勘兵衛 

Gorōbei Katayama 片山五郎兵衛

Shichirōji 七郎次

Kyūzō 久蔵

Heihachi Hayashida 林田平八

Katsushirō Okamoto 岡本勝四郎

Kikuchiyo 菊千代

Danger only strikes when everything feels fine.

Seven Samurai is an absolute masterpiece co-written and directed by Akira Kurosawa in 1954.  The film is universally loved and considered by most filmmakers, film critics and film buffs as the greatest film ever made.  The film is beautifully shot in black and white, its just under 3 1/2 hours long and it is subtitled, and I can say that you wouldn't want it any other way.  This film's adventure takes it time, a luxury compared to today's standards.

Seven Samurai is about a group of farmers that are being terrorized by a mean group of bandits, and seek the help of the Samurai to defeat the bandits and restore their peaceful lives.  The film is about honor, class struggle, war strategy and love, it is about redemption most importantly, it is also arguably one of the most influential films ever made.  The Magnificent Seven is the most obvious of the films that have been influenced by Seven Samurai but a more contemporary direct connect, look no further then Marvel's The Avengers.  

What is so special about this film is the story continues, its a film that is definable while simultaneously undefinable, it ends where in continues and starts where it ends.

What is happening here?  At its core, its stronger people that help more defenseless people defeat bad people.  That's the story, that's the fuss.  So why is this film so special, why is this film so copied?

Okay, the film is a masterpiece, like in the Citizen Kane of masterpieces. So where do we go from this statement, assuming that Citizen Kane is a masterpiece?  The comparison is that neither of these can be explained better than they can be watched.

Seven Samurai is a sight to see, it's filled with echoing sounds from the past to hear, and many universal, relatable emotions to feel.  But what I love most about it is the village itself.  The location where the most beautiful, the most balletic, but yet the most violently brutal showdown you ever saw in the history of film, goes down.  Johnny Cash couldn't have been more correct with the 'mud, the blood and the beer'.

This film is about acceptance and redemption, it's about saving yourself by saving others, it's about how you don't matter as one, while realizing your true power is with the many.   The war strategy in this film may be the best I saw ever on film.  The patients it took to defeat their enemy was beyond impressive.  They exercised a calming strategy like no other, much like the Buddha.

How do we redeem ourselves?  How do we help others without helping ourselves?  How do we face up to who we think we are?   

"This is the nature of war. By protecting others, you save yourself.  If you only think of yourself you'll only destroy yourself."

Not giving anything away, for the love of what-have-yeah, check this film out.  I am avoiding most plot details because it's none of your business.  What I will give away is it is incredibly entertaining, it is funny, it is sad and it will, by the end, inspire you to want to be the eighth samurai.