I recently watched the Akira Kurosawa masterpiece, Seven Samurai. To briefly describe, it follows the story of a small rural village who employ the services of seven samurai to help them ward off a group of bandits who have been taking advantage of their vilage.
This is an amazing movie and a testament to the reach and power of filmaking. The cinemetography in Seven Samurai is absolutely phenmenal. Most poignant of which is arguably Kurosawa's usage of slow motion in this film. In most films, slow motion would be used to highlight and accentuate a character's power. Think movies like Michael Bay's, Transformers. In contrast, in Akira Kurosawa's, Seven Samurai, it is used to highlight the weight and power of death.
Seven Samurai, also does not over use music, or rather only uses it when necessary. The film definitely has moments that feel orchestral. However, just as much, there are moments where it is simply music-less and the viewer is just immersed with the sounds of natures, of the environments around the characters, or just simply silence. The power of silence, the power of being immersed in "reality" does well to add weight to the viewer's experience. The lack can work to cause emotion in the reader, just as much as bombarding them with the melodies and beats of a soundtrack.
Akira Kurosawa's, Seven Samurai has worked as inspirations for various masterpieces over the years. Most obvious is John Sturges', The Magnificent Seven, released 6 years after the release of Seven Samurai in 1954. This movie too focuses on a small rural village being attacked and taken advantage of by a group of bandits. Instead of samurai, however, the villagers work to employ the services of seven gunslingers.
Another work that was heavily inspired by Akira Kurosawa was George Lucas', Star Wars saga. Lucas has repetitively cited Kurosawa's, Seven Samurai, as well as many other works of his like Yojimbo and the Hidden Fortress as heavy inpirations for him when it came to crafting Star Wars.
I would definitely recommend watching Seven Samurai. I was completely immersed and taken away when first watching the movie and I am sure you will have a similar experience when approaching this movie.
