1954 was one of those pivotal years in filmOelike 1939, it was a year that saw an almost unfair ration of classic film–The Wild One, Sabrina, Richard III, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, A Star Is Born, Carmen Jones, On the Waterfront and Rear Window.
But the standout in that year of so many great films was Akira Kurosawais Seven Samurai–a masterful epic both broad in emotional scope and deep in technical virtuosity. To my mind, itis just one of the best action movies ever made.
On itis face, itis about farmers who hire seven vagrant samurai to protect them from an impending invasion by a band of outlaws. Thematically, itis about honor and duty in a time of rebellion (in an immaculately recreated 16th century Japan) and a forbidden romance. Technically the film is all about Kurosawais facility with composition–the way he delineates distance, his use of deep focus, his very conscious choice to occasionally avoid cuts and have the camera rove to find itis point or follow the rush of an action scene.
And the action scenes are their own masterpieces. Kurosawa uses tides of men and has them sweep across the screen from places high to places low. And his use of close-ups in battle scenes is stunning.
Itis a movie long enough to warrant an intermission (207 minutes) but the narrative is so clear and the action scenes are so rousing that the movie seems much shorter.
The Buffalo Film Seminars
Tuesday nights at 7:00 p.m.
The Buffalo Film Seminars take place Tuesday nights at 7 p.m. promptly at the Market Arcade Film and Arts Center in downtown Buffalo, the only eight-screen publicly-owned film theater in the United States.
Each week Diane Christian and Bruce Jackson introduce the film, the film is screened, we take a brief break, and then have an open discussion with students in a University at Buffalo film class and anyone else who cares to join.