Review of Seven Samurai (1954) by Allen R — 14 May 2011

Some movies have greatness heaped upon them over time, such as John Ford's THE SEARCHERS, others are immediately recognizable as masterpieces, as is the case with this Akira Kurasawa masterpiece. It had been so long since I've seem this, re-watching it this morning was like discovering it all over again, and falling in love once more.

This is as brilliant and heart-wrenching a movie as it comes, and one would have to be a complete simpleton not to immediately understand why. Assigning this movie to any specific genre would be doing it a great disservice as the action is as exciting as any action film, it's as funny as any comedy, and as stirring as any drama.

Hell, even referring to is as the generic "samurai film" would be insulting, as it's more about post-war Japan and the ancient feudal system rather than the familiar conventions and themes of samurai cinema.

SEVEN SAMURAI is one of those movies one needs to see simply because they haven't, and if it's been a while since one has seen it, that passage of time is simply enough reason one needs to revisit.