When the
AFI put out it's 100 greatest American films, it was met with great
controversy. People argued all over what films deserved to be there
and which ones didn't. Everyone had a substitute. Well, imagine that
list if it were the 100 greatest films EVER made. Half the films in
the top ten American films list wouldn't even be there. Sure, Citizen Kane would still be there
-- there's no debating that. But, would it be number one? My answer
to that is, quite simply -- nope. Akira Kurosawa's magnificent epic Seven Samurai would be the holder
of that spot. You guys can fire out the e-mails all you want, but
wait until I tell you why.
Seven
Samurai is the most watchable 203 minute of film ever
made. Where else are you going to get such character development,
action/adventure, and this level of human comedy, without having to
live it yourself? Seven Samurai
has all of those things, plus it's got some of the best character
actors who have ever graced the silver screen, Toshiro Mifune and
Takashi Shimura among them.
The whole thing was put together
by a man who was born to make films. Every film that I can think of
that has Akira Kurosawa's name attached is a classic, but Seven Samurai stands as his greatest effort
-- and his most accessible. Samurai follows the trials of a village
plagued by bandits. Knowing that the bandits plan to strike when
their next crop is harvested, the villagers "hire" samurai to
protect them from the upcoming attack. At first they have no chance
of finding anyone willing to do it, or good enough to handle it,
even if they do. That is until they bump into Takashi Shimura's
character Kambei. In a brilliant scene that brings up so many
different cultural questions and issues -- we see Kambei save a
young child taken hostage. Through Kambei, the rest of the samurai
are pulled together and head on to a new adventure.
This is
a film, with a close to three and a half hour running time. Loads of
people simply don't have the time to give to a movie of this length.
I can understand that, but you have to go in knowing that this film
gives back. The events explained above take place over about an hour
and a half -- that's a load of character development, and all of it
needed. The way that Kurosawa moves his camera, and sets up his
scenes -- it's just beautiful. His heavy use of deep focus technique
and camera position says more than words can -- and in this case,
Kurosawa is the most eloquent speaker in the realm of cinema.
Because of this, we are given what seems to be three films in one.
After Kambei recruits his fellow samurai, we go into a sequence
where we learn about the other men. Primarily we learn about the
samurai known as Kikuchiyo, played by Mifune. Kikuchiyo's past
allows the group of samurai to eventually identify with the farmers.
They are able to gain their trust and fortify the village better
through him. He eventually becomes the heart and soul of both the
samurai and the film. It also helps that he is the easiest to
identify with out of the seven. Mifune is wonderful in this role,
and it is the one role that best summed up his own personality.
Wild, angry, funny, caring. He was all these things -- and more. The
character is also a surrogate for Kurosawa - having compassion for
the farmers, but also disdain. Wanting to be part of his peers, yet
striving to be an individual. Kurosawa's career shows these aspects
of his own personality.
Many people seem to watch the film,
and allow their attention spans to drift in and out, disregarding
the small nuances that put the film into focus. One common question
is, why do the bandits continue to attack when they keep getting
killed? It seems pretty stupid, but there are 2 reasons -- neither
of them good, but in the context of the story they make sense. The
bandits need what the farmers have to survive. It's not like there's
a farming village every six miles, like some corner convenience
store. The other reason, is that the Japanese are a stubborn lot.
The bandits continue to strike because they must win. That is all,
and there isn't much arguing. It may not make sense, but it's true.
The grand luxury of having this film on
DVD, is based on its
length. Never before has an audience been able to watch this film at
home, without having to get up and either change videotapes, or flip
a disc. I've watched this film close to 30 times, and this was the
first time I went all the way through it without having to get up.
Of course, we end up paying for that luxury. The quality of the
video is a bit flawed. Although, there is low pixelation, there is a
problem with hard edges. Everything seems to be overcompensated for,
with hard flat lines. It's noticeable at first, but begins to fade
as you watch it. It's still there, but you get used to it. The most
likely reason for this is based on the restoration process. The film
has been filtered, to remove scratches, rips and other flaws. This
gives the film a more digital look that we are used to seeing. I
honestly didn't mind, because I've seen some crappy copies of this
film. The sound, too, has been remastered. It is loud and bright,
and mono. Most of the hiss that has appeared before has been removed
and we end up with a wonderful sounding film.
Extras include
a commentary track by Michael Jeck, who, when he's good, informs and
explains many of the aspects to the film. But when he's bad, he is
boring. Most of the time he gives play-by-play commentary. "Here we
see Mifune walking across the screen, and now he's scratching." Okay
Mike, thanks -- I didn't notice the scratch. It gets on the nerves
sometimes. But if you turn it off, you might miss some of the
informative things he has to say. So it's a catch 22. Included also
is a trailer and an example of the before-and-after effects of the
restoration process. It's pretty sparse, but this is a huge film.
Just getting it all on one DVD is extra enough.
From The
Digital Bits
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