Abstract
This paper reviews the movie "Seven Samurai" based on "Shichinin no Samurai", a 1954 black and white film by Akira Kurosawa. The paper takes a look at the structure of the movie, as well as the richness of the film and the cinematic technique.

From the Paper
"Seven Samurai," filmed in linear structure, is set in 16th century Japan, and is the story of a poor farming village that is regularly attacked by bandits, who steal their rice crops at harvest and take their women as well. Before harvest time approaches again, the villagers decide to hire a group of samurai to help defend their homes and crops for the price of lodging and food, a total of seven samurai are enlisted. The first half of the movie depicts how each samurai joins the group, and their journey to the village, where they teach the farmers how to fight and how to secure their village. The last part of the movie shows several skirmishes with the bandits, all of which lead up to the final battle scene.
As Gary Morris points out, this epic deals with "war, honor, courage, and yes, that homo subtext ever present in male bonding movies, punctuated by Toshiro Mifune's enthralling butt-baring performance."

Tags:medieval, Japan, chambara, Mifune, Kambei