A martial arts and katana instructor awardsSeven Samuraia half-decent grade for its samurai realism.Directed by Akira Kurosawaand released in 1954,Seven Samuraitells the story of a band of samurai warriors who gather to defend a village from violent bandits. The film, which stars Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima, and Kamatari Fujiwara, is widely regarded as one of the best samurai movies ever made, and it would inspire a Western remake in the form ofThe Magnificent Seven(1960).
In a recent video forInsider, Seki Nobuhide Sensei, an expert in martial arts and a katana instructor, analyzes one fight scene fromSeven Samuraithat involves combat against horse-riding opponents. Seki breaks down how a samurai at the time would have dealt with an enemy on a horse, revealing that the film gets some aspects right.One character’s use of a bow and arrow is also plausible, though Seki admits that normally a weapon wouldn’t like that wouldn’t be used at such close range. Check out his comments or watch the video (relevant section begins at 19:04) below:
“For those on horseback, the handling of the sword is important because you can’t cut the horse’s neck or reins. That is why they had to use a sword like this, so that it would not interfere with the neck of the horse in front of them. For those on the ground, it is disadvantageous to fight someone on horseback, so the best way is to drag them down with a tool like musha-otoshi as I mentioned earlier. The other way is damage the horse itself, something that makes the horse hurt and unsettled.
“As for whether the bow was effective or not, in a melee situation like that, you shoot the enemy from an outside position. Normally, it would be odd to use a bow at such a close range, but I think it is effective because the enemy is on horseback. A bow attack is effective because it allows you to shoot from a position where the person on horseback’s sword cannot reach.
“I give it a seven [out of 10]on the reality scale."
What Seven Samurai’s Realism Grade Means For The Film’s Reputation
Akira Kurosawa’s Film Is A Masterpiece
Kurosawa is widely considered one of the best and most important filmmakers of all time, andSeven Samuraiis perhaps his most iconic film. The film currently enjoys a perfect 100% score onRotten Tomatoes, a truly rare feat. The audience score doesn’t quite reach these heights, but it’s still remarkably high at 97%.Seven Samurai, then, is an undeniable classic, andit certainly wouldn’t be unreasonable to use the word “masterpiece” when describing it.
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The fact thatSeven Samuraiisn’t entirely realistic isn’t likely to affect the film’s reputation. It was made 70 years ago at a time when the technology available to make films wasn’t as advanced as it is today. Though there was clearly a great deal of attention paid during production in terms of costuming and production design,elements of the combat have been altered somewhat for entertainment value or for practical reasons.
In addition to being remade in 1960 for American audiences,Seven Samuraialso served as the basis for 2016’sMagnificent Sevenfrom director Antoine Fuqua.
Our Take On Seven Samurai’s Realism
Historical Accuracy Isn’t Everything
Any movie has a balance to walk between being realistic and being entertaining, andSeven Samurai, with a seven out of 10 score, seemingly walks this balance quite well. Plus, the reasons why it lost some points aren’t likely to be things that most audiences will know anyway. Still,analyzing movies for their historical accuracy is, if nothing else, an interesting way to learn more about history, and also about filmmaking, and its strengths and limitations. Though it may not have earned a perfect realism score,Seven Samurairemains an undeniable classic.
Seven Samurai
Cast
Directed by legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, Seven Samurai is an epic Drama and Samurai film that revolves around a group of farmers in 1586 Japan that band together to hire Ronin to help protect themselves and their families from bandits that plan to steal from them.
