The Seven Samurai - the Most Prominent Japanese Film in the Past Half Century - Movie Review Example

The theme of duty and responsibility is apparent in the film. This is evident when the Samurai sacrifice to protect the farmers’ crops against the bandits. The Samurai sacrificed their lives to keep safe the harvest of the farmers. Moreover, the theme of unity is also apparent in the film. Kambei tells the villagers about the nature of war. He additionally tells the villagers to protect the other villagers. This way, they would be able to subdue the bandits. This advice is however not taken seriously by many of the farmers and hence led to their harm.

The theme of morality has been shown in this film. This is shown in the film whereby some of the individuals showcase differing senses of morality. These are based on their experiences in life; personal experiences. This is displayed when the Samurai are introduced as the Ronin. This meant that they had the responsibility of determining what was right and evil in the world. Kikuchiyo lacked morals when he shouted angrily to the villagers concerning the issue of the hunting of Samurai by the villagers (Anderson 55).

The theme of sexual violence is evident in the film. This is shown when Manzo, the father of Shino forces her to cut her hair. Manzo also beats up Shino over the issue of losing her virginity to a village Samurai. This results in a conflict between Shino and her father. The theme of accountability is also portrayed in the film. This is shown by Kambei who works to showcase the importance of responsibility at the individual level and community level. Kambei tries to explain the significance of being accountable to some of the characters like Kikuchiyo who are selfish.

Kambei is also against the issue of bringing harm to other people because of the lack of accountability. Additionally, the theme of pride is shown in the film. This is evident when Kyuzo fights a fellow Samurai. The fellow Samurai dies because Kyuzo insisted that they fight using steel. Kikuchiyo equally shows pride when he dances on the body of a slain thief. Kikuchiyo also costs the lives of many villagers when he leaves his post to steal a firearm. His friends are also killed by the bandits (Anderson 56) In the Seven Samurai film, many styles have been used.

Some of the techniques used are discussed below. The Axial Cut has been portrayed in this movie. This style is used two times. First, it is used when the villagers are outside. The villagers are gathered in a circular pattern crying and complaining about the arrival of the bandits in their village. The villagers are seen from above in a long shot. After the cut, they are seen in a closer shot at ground level. Secondly, the axial cut is used when the villagers are seen going to a mill to seek advice from the village elders.

The mill is shown rotating slowly in a along shot. A closer shot of the slowly turning mill at the river is also made ( Anderson 55) The Image-sound counterpoint is another style used in the film. This is used to bring out the emotional content of a particular scene. This is shown during the killings in the seven samurai films. A bird sounds in the background during the murder to bring out the emotions involved in the episode. Image-sound counterpoint is also evident when the farmers grief their hopelessness.

A bird sounds in the background (Anderson 57). Cutting on the motion is another style used in the Seven Samurai film. This style is used to show a sequence of characters in motion. This way, the action is shown in more separate ways. This is shown in the film whereby Schichiroji consoles Manzo by getting down on one knee. Cutting on the motion is depicted during the time that Schichiroji starts kneeling. This brings out the humility of Schichiroji (Anderson 58). Wipe is another style used in the film.

This style is evident when the village elder is talking of the way to find the Samurai and feeding them. Wipe occurs and shows a group of men walking in the village (Anderson 55). Eyeline match has also been used in the Seven Samurai film. This is used when Kyuzo was fighting another man. The man insisted that they use steel to fight. Kambei was watching the fight. The eyeliner shot is used when it shows Kambei looking offscreen. This changes the views so that viewers can watch from the side of Kambei.