The other day, while traveling I stopped off at a bar and found three men around my age who were getting very excited talking about the movie "Seven Samurai."
"Seven Samurai" was released in 1954 by Akira Kurosawa, one of Japan's most famous film directors.
"Toshiro Mifune was over there..." "In that scene..." I listened carefully, but I didn't understand a thing.
Director Akira Kurosawa has been an internationally famous and influential figure since World War II, and was friends with George Lucas of Star Wars and Cappola of The Godfather. Even though he is so famous, his films are nearly 70 years old. In this day and age of streaming video, it has been difficult to find an opportunity to watch black-and-white films.
However, ever since that day, I had been really curious about "Seven Samurai."
The story is set in a farming village during the Warring States period, and depicts the struggles of samurai hired by farmers to fight against bandit ronin.
The seven samurai hired by the farmers each have their own unique personalities and tend to attract attention, but personally I found the farmers' presence particularly striking in the beginning of the film.
Hidari Bokuzen (1894-1971) plays a farmer named Yohei . His words and expressions show his anxiety and sadness. Even when he has no lines, his simple humanity can be read from his gestures and expressions. I felt that I had never felt the urgency of the hardships of living in poverty so much as I did when watching a documentary or something.
I felt that this was a glimpse of the humanism that is characteristic of Kurosawa's films.
For Akira Kurosawa, who experienced both the pre-war and post-war periods, humanism, which represents respect for and liberation of humanity, has remained at the core of his filmography.
Such human acting, combined with the black-and-white footage of the time, naturally draws the viewer's eyes and ears to the actors' expressions and words, enhancing the realism of the images and making the various emotions such as fear, sadness, and joy feel more visceral.
"Seven Samurai" won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, while its predecessor, "Rashomon" (1950) , won the Golden Lion, the highest award.
These works helped Japanese films gain recognition overseas and have since been so highly acclaimed that remakes have been produced.
In 2020 , a film called " Living " was released in the UK, which is a remake of the 1952 film "Island."
Why do Kurosawa's films resonate so much with people overseas?
Perhaps it is because in the images we can see raw human emotions that transcend language and culture, the real humanity that we all carry deep inside.
Director Akira Kurosawa said this in an interview:
"What you really think in your heart will naturally come out in your work. That's what touches people's hearts. You can't make a movie with your head; you have to make it with your heart."
