Ed Notes Extended

Friday, April 3, 2020

Lesson from the Seven Samurai so relevant today

I have always been a fan of The Magnificent Seven - a very long western starring Yule Brynner, Steve McQueen and so many other major stars. The
film is based on the original Kurosawa (1954) Seven Samurai which takes place in late 16th century Japan but is based on Kurosawa's vision of turning a classic American western into something very original. So 6 years later, the American version reverted to the western. Both films are worth seeing - of you have about three and a half hours. The Kurosawa version is considered by many to be one of the greatest foreign films ever and had a lot of influence. But in Japan, he was not as popular with critics as he was abroad - though not quite the Jerry Lewis of Japan.
Wednesday night TCM had a Kurosawa feast from 8PM through the middle of the night with three movies. It took me two evenings but I

There are big themes in both versions - in fact, the American version pretty much follows the original's script despite the differing cultures and being 3 centuries apart. Below are some quotes I pulled out that seem very relevant to today:
watched Samurai for the second or third time. (I still have Roshomon and Yojimbo to watch) This time I focused on the acting, especially Toshiro Mifune who is so good - and so are the others. The actors in both films match each other in many ways - even in their look. But Mifune is unique -

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