Seven Samurai (Shichinin no samurai)

I have no idea about the Japanese language. But, two weeks ago, I watched a dated black and white japanese film. It was first released almost six decades ago (1954, to be precise). Obviously, for someone used to watching movies in the twenty first century, the lack of colorful photography was a deterrent and the sound was really jarring and lacking in effects. But, if the movie could hold my attention for a full 207 minutes, then it had to be something special. That is what 'Seven Samurai' truly is.... a timeless classic!!!.

The basic plot is just one line, and nothing more. A sixteenth century japanese village hires seven samurai to fight a group of bandits about to loot its farmers. So, how do you spin such a thin plot into a good story?? Hire a good scriptwriter. And Akira Kurosawa is a master. Now that you have a good script, how do you make a movie that is exciting and moving?? Rope in a good director. And Akira Kurosawa is a genius.



Although the plot is simple, the writers have given 'Seven Samurai' enough depth with many sub-plots and details. This is especially true with the war scenes that contain a lot of detail. The different strategies adopted by the samurai to fight the bandits forms most of the second half. This includes defending the village, by constructing barricades along three sides of the village and a moat along the other, and attacking the bandits one at a time. The samurai not only train the villagers, but also exhort them into fighting off the bandits. While battle forms the second half, the first half focuses on the penurious state of the farmers and also on the recruitment of the seven samurai.

Among the crowd of actors, Takashi Shimura and Toshiro Mifune clearly stand out. Takashi plays Kanbe, a warm hearted samurai who is the first to offer help to the villagers. He is instrumental in building the rest of the team and is also the one who is the war strategist. Toshiro Mifune plays Kikuchiyo, a ruffian who is the last samurai to be inducted into the team. While Takashi plays Kanbe with a calm demeanor, Toshiro's Kikuchiyo is fierce and boorish. The primary themes in 'Seven Samurai' are the pathetic state of affairs with the farmers and the build up to the battle. With such serious themes, it is Kikuchiyo who provides the necessary relief with his funny mannerisms and antics. The background music is heavy and is apt in generating the battle mood.


Akira kurosawa must have taken great pains to make this fiction look authentic. The movie was definitely not shot indoors and the battleground comes alive in the second half. There are no extra-ordinary stunts and hence all the combat scenes are credible. Another notable technique in 'Seven Samurai' is the use of weather to heighten the mood of a situation. It is sunny when the plight of farmers is highlighted in the early parts of the movie. There is a heavy wind when Kanbe exhorts a group of frightened farmers to pick up their spears and prepare for battle. It is foggy when the team waits for Kyuzo, who leaves the boundary to bring the first gun [another intent of using the fog was probably to depict dawn]. And yeah, it rains cats and dogs in the final showdown, accentuating the struggle during a battle.

There are many sub-plots that make 'Seven Samurai' interesting. The camaraderie among the warriors is enjoyable. There is also a love story as the youngest samurai, Katsushiro, falls for the village girl, Shino. Another major thread is the way people from two different ranks of the society come to terms with each other. It is very clear that the farmers belong to the lower echelons of society and the samurai belong to the prestigious warrior class. The farmers, who are initially hesitant to welcome the samurai, gradually learn to honor their guests. Similarly, misgivings of the farmers are rationalized to the samurai during Kikuchiyo's emotional outburst [and Toshiro Mifune excels here]. Some fundamentals of war are also explained to the viewer, as part of discussions that Kanbe has with his fellow samurai. A combination of all these sub-plots makes 'Seven Samurai' a very moving motion picture.

There is one minor nit in this film. Given that this movie runs for more than three and half hours, I think there is one sub-plot that could have been avoided [at least to reduce its running time]. When the farmers come to a neighboring city to hire samurai, they dwell with beggars. The beggars constantly ridicule the farmers and their destitution. While this highlights the farmers' poverty, the beggars' screen space could have been reduced. But, in the overall scheme of things, this nit is hardly noticeable.

The most striking part of this film is the climax. And by climax, I do not mean the final battle showdown, but the very end where Kanbe mentions, "The winners are those farmers, not us". This is the most touching and moving portion of 'Seven Samurai' and makes a huge impact on the viewer. It is deeply saddening to see the cold treatment being meted out to the three surviving samurai. Akira Kurosawa concludes 'Seven Samurai' by showcasing the forgotten heroes.



As I said... this classic is timeless!!!

The Secret in Their Eyes (El secreto de sus ojos)`

Let me first confess that I am no expert in movie-making or writing reviews. But the winner of 'Best Foreign Language Film' at the 82nd Academy Awards is simply one of the best movies I have watched till date. Such was "El secreto de sus ojos"'s impact that it completely blew me off when I watched it and the movie kept running in my head for the next two days. As my colleague mentioned, watching El secreto is one of those rare experiences where you continue to stare at the screen even after the credits have started rolling. Simply put, this is story telling at its best.

In El secreto, the director, Campanella, has crafted a crime drama with romantic elements. The movie revolves around the lead pair where the relationship is mutual suppression of love. Ricardo Darin, as Benjamin Esposito, is a justice agent and the charming Soledad Villamil, as Irene Hastings, is his boss who hails from the upper class. With their mannerisms, body language and eyes, all the lead actors perform exceedingly well. Francella deserves a special mention as he plays Sandoval, the mousy character that enlivens an otherwise serious crime drama. The suspense kept me engrossed and by the time the mystery was solved, I was literally gaping at the screen. In one word, this movie is a Masterpiece.

Up until now, I have hardly given away any details about the movie itself. If you are planning to watch this classic, then I would recommend you to read no further as I now intend to talk about particular scenes [read it as 'spoilers'] that stand out in El Secreto. Check out the trailer with english sub-titles below.



So, what is this movie all about?? Now, for a casual viewer, El secreto seems like a good crime drama. But the main plot is the suppressed love between Esposito and Irene. The criminal investigation of rape and murder of Liliana, while running parallel to the main plot, forms the background of their love story. And make no mistake, this movie is really about the eyes (and the secrets within). It is Gomez's eyes in Liliana's albums that leads Esposito to suspect Gomez. And it is Gomez's eyes that Irene catches before inciting and consequently incriminating him. It is the intense look in Morales' eyes at the railway station that convinces Esposito to re-open the case an year later [and Esposito even mentions this to Irene in the very next scene..... yes, the scene where Irene is disappointed with Esposito for him not having responded to her feelings] And the love Esposito and Irene have for each other is all there in the eyes to see. Darin's [playing Esposito] eyes not only express his immense love for Irene, but also the restraint in expressing it [most likely due to the differences in class in society and hierarchy at the workplace]. On the other hand, Irene drops hints about her feelings for Esposito and she does this not only with words, but also with her eyes. As I said, it is all there in the eyes for us to see. In fact, El secreto itself begins with a close up shot of Irene's eyes.

As someone who cannot speak a single word in Spanish, I do not even remotely qualify to comment about the dialogues. I watched El secreto with english sub-titles. But for the sub-titles, I am not sure what I would have made of the movie. Its dialogues are the strength of El secreto. I can only guess that I lost some flavor around dialogues in the translation from Spanish to English. Check out this line from Morales when he says "I don't know if it is a memory.... or a memory of a memory I am left with.".... it is so subtle, yet powerful. It just hits you then and there that this guy's life has "frozen in time". Another set of interesting dialogues feature in the scene where Esposito and Sandoval are censured by the senior judge at the justice office. It doesn't get any more sarcastic than when the judge asks Esposito .... "Es?? Espo?? Esposi???". And one can't miss the innocent looking Sandoval, who is watching all this pretty much like a stranger. Another gem is the scene in a pub where Esposito asks a drunk Sandoval to be his accomplice. What sounds like a soliloquy is actually a blackmail.

Having spoken so much about dialogues, I can tell you that in one of the best scenes in the movie, not even a single word is uttered. It is the one in the elevator. Three people and a loaded gun in a lift is all it takes for Campanella to tacitly convey the fear, the threat and to a larger extent the political situation that Argentina was in, during the seventies. So much silence... yet so many things conveyed!!!

And yeah.... the long shot that runs for a full five minutes is really amazing if you wonder how it was accomplished. What starts off with a bird's eye view of a football stadium, later zooms into the crowd and narrows down on Esposito. This follows a hand-held camera movement where Gomez is chased, run down by a footballer and nabbed by the police.... all this in a single shot. Brilliant!!!

I guess it all depends how each scene is written and envisioned.... including how a character reacts... what element is highlighted.. and even the sequence of events. As a writer and director, Campanella has crafted El secreto very well and all the subtle mannerisms and dialogues have taken the movie to an altogether new level. To me, there were two scenes that were a little graphic. The first one is where Liliana's physically abused deadbody is shown. And the second one is a close up shot in the scene where Irene instigates Gomez in the court to incriminate him. I feel both the scenes could have done away with the graphic shots. Coming back to the positives, the movie excels in the departments of screenplay, dialogues, acting, cinematography and background music. And in the climax, justice prevails and love triumphs over fear.

Of all the movies that contested at the 82nd Academy awards, I have watched only three as of this writing. The first one I watched was 'Avatar' (in 3D of course). 'El Secreto de sus ojos' was the second and 'The Hurt Locker' was the third. To me, 'El secreto' was the most entertaining and complete movie among the three. I would rate it better than Avatar and The Hurt Locker. I know "It's complicated" to compare the three movies because I am not comparing apples with apples. But, like Esposito says towards the end, "I don't care".... whatever they may be, they are all movies after all.