Seven Samurai Essay

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Seven Samurai The epic film Seven Samurai was directed by Akira Kurosawa in 1954. It follows the story of seven samurai as they travel to protect a Japanese village of farmers from bandits that plan to steal their crop once it is harvested. Though many of the farmers are weak and have lost the meaning of life, Kambei, the leader of the samurai, encourages the villagers to stay strong and fight. Kurosawa is able to make this a powerful movie through his use of kinetics and symbolism. Kinetic symbolism is an important aspect in any film and is often portrayed through dancing and singing to avoid to staleness. However, certain objects can also be symbolic of a time, place, or emotion. One instance of symbolism with use of movement is when the village children innocently sing and play just before Kikuchiyo attempts to ride Yohei’s horse. This is symbolic of the villager’s hope and anticipation that the bandits are not coming. Conventional symbolism is also portrayed through the child that who lost her parents in the mill. It is at this point where we learn that Kikuchiyo, a samurai, once lived the life of a farmer. This revelation clears up the question of why he was so nice and playful with the village children but hostile towards their parents and guardians. The actions of Kikuchiyo are very different from those of the other samurai. This suggests that he is not of samurai lineage at all, which we already know from the stolen family tree he presented to Kambei. However, as the movie progresses his actions become more straight, direct, and graceful like those of a true samurai. When actions are straight and direct, the audience feels a new sense of intensity, stimulation, and power towards a character (Giannetti 116). As Kikuchiyo sits next to the burial ground of the fallen warriors, the stillness of the shot indicates that a psychological symbolism is

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