Akira Kurosawa\'s SEVEN SAMURAI

[hecose]

I have just watched the movie and really enjoyed it. For those who are not familiar with Akira Kurosawa (actually that includes me), this is a black and white movie about some villagers trying to employ ronins (masterless samurai) to protect their village from bandits.

I have only watched 3 of Akira Kurosawa's movies: "Ran", "Roshomon" and "Seven Samurai", and "Seven Samurai" is the one which I enjoyed most, because I liked the action, and the strategic planning (really reminds me of battles in STW - how you need to know the terrain and make use of it). Ran has some huge battle scenes, but I felt they were quite brief. The focus of the story was not on the battles themselves anyway.

[The Black Ship]

Seven Samurai inspired several American Westerns too, though they weren't nearly as good http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/wink.gif

Mifune got a little over-the-top with the "mad ronin" thing, but it was such a hreat story-line that such annoyances are easily forgiven http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/biggrin.gif

[Jpf]

Hecose, you sure missed out by not seeing that movie sooner.
Seven Samurai has to be my Favourite Kurosawa film too (although Hidden Fortress & Ran are defintely worth a look!)
I especially like the character 'Kyuzo' the swordsman.

It is a very tragic scene at the end when the camera pans toward the hill where the 'fallen' are buried http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/frown.gif
Very touching....

[solypsist]

yep. the Magnificent Seven was completely taken from Seven Samurai.

[Kurando]

I think my favorite film by the celebrated Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa is Dersu Uzala (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0071411). Though if you are going out to rent it keep in mind that it is set in Russia, (not Japan), and it is not a "Samurai Film" per se.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00004Y7HL.01.MZZZZZZZ.gif

[FwSeal]

Dersu Uzala is definatly a great movie very much overshadowed by Kurosawa's samurai films. I was a bit biased in that it wasn't a samurai film and so held off on renting it for a long time. When I finally did, I wished I'd not put it off.

[TosaInu]

Konnichiwa,

Which Akira Kurosawa titles are available in DVD format at the moment? I've got Seven Samurai on DVD.

I've seen a movie many years back. I guess it was an Akira Kurosawa, but I'm not sure. It was a great movie.
It was about Takeda Shingen. A double of Shingen was discovered. Shingen was shot during a castle siege (while listening to somebody inside the castle playing flute). He did not recover and died (authentic?). The clanleaders didn't tell Shingen died and the double replaced Shingen (not real power). He fooled everyone, one day he tried to ride Shingen horse. The animal knew he was not his real master and throwed him off. Then some female discovered that 'Shingen' didn't have cicatrices. The bushi drived out the imposter.

Then the battle of Nagashino tooks place.

Does anyone know the name of this color movie?
The actors spoke Japanese.


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Ja mata
Toda TosaInu

[Anssi Hakkinen]

This is the third time in two days i post on the exact same subject, but who am I to fight the quirks of probability (read: kami)...

The movie you're referring to is "Kagemusha" (someone said its name in English is "Throne of Blood" or something, but I'm not sure), one of the most legenday movies on the sengoku jidai period. If they have anything Kurosawa made on DVD in addition to Seven Samurai, I would bet my money on it being this. The movie has been discussed in other threads just recently, so explore...

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"The ancient rule declares that letters are the left hand and militarism the right. Neither must be neglected."
- Hôjô Sôun

[FwSeal]

I've seen Ran for sale on DVD. I'm not sure about Kageumsha. If it is/or will be, it would sure be nice if they included the scenes cut when the movie was released to western audiences - which included everything with Uesugi Kenshin (played by Takashi Shimura).

[Tachikaze]

"Kagemusha" means "Shadow Warrior" in Japanese. Throne of Blood is an earlier Kurosawa film.

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A murky puddle becomes clear when it is still.

[BanzaiZAP]

Yup - Tachikaze's right. Kagemusha (Shadow Warrior) is the one you describe (and a very powerful movie, at that! Also shows how muskets are SUPPOSED to be used...), and Throne of Blood was Kurasawa's rendition of Shakespeare's Macbeth.

-- B)

[TosaInu]

Thanks for the replies.

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Ja mata
Toda TosaInu

[aardvark]

And let's not forget his two great movies about the lone swordsman played by Mifune: Yojimbo and Sanjuro. (The first one was remade as A Fistful of Dollars.)

[ShaiHulud]

Aardvark, more recently the movie "Last Man Standing" reprises Yojimbo, also.

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Wind fells blossoms, rain
fells steel,yet bamboo bends and drinks

[Idaho]

Yojimbo must be his best (although I hadn't heard of Sanjuro - must look it up).

The bit in Yojimbo when the ex-convicts try to intimidate him is pure class... especially when he slices three of them and strolls back to the tea shop!

I'm pretty sure that Ran is not Macbeth - but in fact King Lear....

[The Daimyo]

If you look up the filmography for Toshiro Mifune you will find that he did several other movies with that character, "Yojimbo" and "Sanjuro" were not the only ones, but due to the changing of hands on the title rights and with all the great older movies getting moved into holding, or just forgotten, it's going to be a bit before we'll get our hands on the other movies.
Look for Toshiro Mifune listings here:
http://www.blockbuster.com/mv/filmography.jhtml?ID=43411

and for Akira Kurosawa look here:
http://www.us.buy.com/retail/videos/searchresults.asp?search_store=4&qutype=9&qu=Akira+Kurosawa

Each has a pretty comprehensive listing of currently available movies and others that you will have to really look for or hope that they reproduce soon.
Have at You!

http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/biggrin.gif


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The Daimyo
Miaowara "Kakizaki" Tomokato
@http://www.planettotalwar.com

[The Daimyo]

OOH, I also found a big ass listing of movies done by the guy who directed "Heaven and Earth" the movie set in the STW times, not the one by Oliver Stone. He has over 18 movies to his credit, that I have found online so far, here's the list:
http://www.blockbuster.com/mv/filmography.jhtml?ID=85753

There's a good collection of Samurai flicks there. All of that directors movies were made in the last 22 years, so they will be color, with a wide variety of newer actors.

Enjoy!


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The Daimyo
Miaowara "Kakizaki" Tomokato
@http://www.planettotalwar.com

[Idaho]

There was a piss-take of samurai films out on release when I was in Japan. I haven't seen it here though. It was called Samurai Fiction and looked funny and had some amazing fight sequences. I would also like to see Owls Castle which looked top - ninja's and geishas....

[Anssi Hakkinen]

Samurai fiction is a Hong Kong (-type) movie, a fairly recent one in fact - 1995 or 1996. There are hundreds of copies available for rental etc. here in Helsinki, so, by that reckoning, it should be available anywhere in the civilized world. http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/biggrin.gif

It looks like a film designed to be exported otherwise - it claims to be a "samurai movie with a rock / pulp attitude." That sounds vague, but suspicious... Maybe I should finally watch it, I've been planning to do so for ages.

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"The right use of the sword is that it should subdue the barbarians while lying gleaming in its scabbard. If it leaves its sheath it cannot be said to be used rightly."
- Tokugawa Ieyasu: Legacy

[Ieyasu]

"Ran" was based on King Lear, yes... and "Throne of Blood" was based on MacBeth.

I still haven't seen "Kagemusha", which kills me. But Kurosawa has done some amazing films outside of the samurai genre...

my personal favorite of his is "Ikiru", which means "To Live"...

Has anyone seen this bit of remarkable filmmaking? Beautiful really... takes place during the 50's in post-war Japan.

Ran, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, and Seven Samurai are all available on DVD. I am waiting for "Kagemusha" -- I didn't know it was based on Takeda Shingen. All the more to see it!

Thanks for sharing. http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif