'Seven Samurai' at 70: Kurosawa's epic still moves like nothing else

I'm glad that Takashi Shimura got some love. He was awesome here as in many other films (not necessarily Godzilla!).

A great classic..

An absolute masterpiece. The films from the "Golden Age" of Japanese cinema are a large part of the reason I came to Japan.

I re-watch Seven Samurai every couple of years. Each time I get swept up by it and disciver new things in it.

A great classic.. - TokyoLiving

3 thumbs down? What the hell is wrong with people? Am I missing something here?

Seven Samurai is truly a masterpiece. Some people say this is the greatest Japanese movie of all time (for me, that title goes to Ozu’s Tokyo Story but Seven Samurai certainly deserves to be in that discussion).

Fantastic film (of course)

This is an American article. Will there be any anniversary showings in Japan?

I don't think Kurosawa's are, but a number of classic Japanese films (Ugetsu, Tokyo Story etc) are on Amazon Prime. No subtitles unfortunately. I just thought I'd mention it because Japanese Amazon Prime is so terrible for Western films that its easy to assume that there's nothing good on there.

Under Japanese law, Kurosawa's films should have an expired copyright, but they might have extended it, like the thing with Disney and Mickey Mouse.

Seven Samurai is up there at the top of samurai action films. If someone wants to plumb the depths of Japanese culture I would suggest 24 Eyes. Of course there are other great candidates as well.

They based the movie The Magnificent Seven on Seven Samurai. When I was a kid, the American movie was great. Then I saw Seven Samurai. Now I laugh when I see the American version. It's dishwater thin compared to one of the most magnificent movies of all time. You can't watch it once or you won't see what you missed the first time. And the second, third, etc. Heavily layered, intense, funny, (You call yourself a horse!?), and gripping. I like movies a lot and sitting here I can't think of a better one. Honestly.

@Capuchin

I think it's more the commenter and their typical posts than the current comments people downvote.

Amazing how many Japanese people don't know Kurosawa.

They never show his films on TV,maybe that's why.

One of the greatest films ever made yet many Japanese remain ignorant of it. It should be a part of the school curriculum to promote Japanese culture and raise the public's abysmally low level of film appreciation. This film has a sting in its tail, however, that can stir up undesirable questions about the Japanese past which some folk may feel could rock the boat of Japan's present hierarchical social structure.

I agree with the above posters that many people in Japan, even the elderly, have no idea how much reverence and adulation there is for Kurosawa and Mifune.

I was working in Japan when Mifune died in '97 and when I went to work, I excitedly mentioned the "big" news. Most of my colleagues, including the elderly ones, just said, "Oh, yeah I remember him. I've seen a movie or two of his," and without much feeling of shock that one of their biggest stars ever had passed on.

The exact same thing happened a year later when Kurosawa had died, I thought my colleagues would be much more reactive to his death than Mifune's but it wasn't. It was pretty much a, "Oh, really?"

This is when I realized there was a massive difference in perception of these two greats between the rest of the world and Japan. It sometimes feels that Takashi Shimura even gets more attention that the previous two - whom I also think was great.

I once had a Japanese homestay father who even knew that Kurosawa was more renowned in the West than in Japan but had no idea why he was held in such reverence. Yes, I think that several artists in the 50s and 60s asked uncomfortable questions that disturbed the imposed "wa" and they and their work were often subsequently sidelined or misrepresented by the regime in the 70s' push for full spectrum indoctrination. It worked too, better than in the old Eastern Bloc.

No one should be surprised that Kurosawa is underappreciated in Japan.

All that matters by and large to the herd mentality is what is currently popular, so for example the latest anime being praised here and abroad will always be given precedence over Kurosawa, Mizoguchi Kenji, Ozu, etc.

Even when Tarantino cane out and explicitly stated that Kill Bill was based on Jpn films like Lady Snowblood, no one here really bothered to give that film its due respect and appreciation.

It's a classic for a reason but my favorite is Ran. Brilliant film with great performances especially Mieko Harada as Lady Kaede. Mesmerizing. Unfortunately, Kurosawa is now an unknown in Japan. Some people recall his name but very few have seen his films. Kubrick, Spielberg, etc looked up to him as the master....for good reason. Incredible that he continued directing even after going blind.

A classic? That’s not how I remember it. Rashomom was better.

Kurosawa was appreciated in the West first, before he was appreciated in Japan

Kurosawa said in his autobiography that the Japanese were hesitant to appreciate anything Japanese for what it was, dismissing their own culture as unimpressive, and it wasn’t until westerners saw interest in Japanese art that the Japanese themselves were willing to appreciate it.

"How Japan's Greatest Director Was Exiled from His Country"

https://movieweb.com/akira-kurosawa-disliked-in-japan/

Despite being hailed as a genius in the West, Kurosawa faced dismissal and criticism in Japan, causing a downward spiral.

Kurosawa's films had a significant impact on international cinema, inspiring genres like spaghetti westerns and gaining recognition globally.

Kurosawa struggled to find support and funding in Japan, turning to foreign directors like Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas to produce his later films.

Honestly, there are better Japanese films than Seven Samurai but to each their own.

Some films of Shohei Imamura.

And The Human Condition Trilogy will always remain the top of the Japanese Cinema.