Thoughts on Seven Samurai (1954)

"This baby...it's me... It's what happened to me!

the effects of endemic violence trickle down and coalesce into an uncanny dichotomy..
war breeds unrest, drawing a line in the sand between two groups: those that peddle in violence and those that are subject to it
strength and weakness at first only exist as binaries; those who are strong (bandits, samurai) against those who are weak (farmers). But bit by bit, Kurosawa reveals revelation after revelation (the villagers' history of killing samurai, the repressed rage and bloodlust of Rikichi, Kikuchiyo's tragic past) hinting at the truest binary of all:
there is only suffering and the absence of it...
The tragedy that unfolds is quickly forgotten by the village in their celebrations, all that remains of the honour and goodwill are the trail of corpses

 Originally posted on Letterboxd on 6th October 2024