1.

The Seven Samurai is set in a very foreign environment-- both in terms of place and of
historical period. Do you have problems with this “foreign-ness”? By the end of the film, do you
feel comfortable with this environment?
I did not have problems with the “foreign-ness,” with the vast-openness of the environments in
the background I found myself fascinated of the landscape, and explored the fields and the
village shot by shot in the dense world of 1600s Japan. By the end of the film, I found myself in
a place of familiarity with the setting as Kurosawa took us through the fields and village in the
duration of the entire movie.

2. List some of the major oppositions or contrasts (themes and characters) in The Seven Samurai
- Difference of caste of the Samurai and the Farmers
- A forbidden love between a samurai and a farmer
- The fear of villagers and farmers of the samurai

3. A writer on Japanese film has said that the great Japanese filmmakers have “the knack of
capturing mood and atmosphere, of presenting the environment as an extension of man.” Do you
find this is true of Kurosawa in this film? Explain with examples.
Yes, a great example would be the scenes of Katsushiro and Shino, where they always meet
secretly in a field of flowers capturing their blooming love for each other and when they meet in
a secluded place, under two trees or behind a fence, to give the atmosphere that their love is
secret and forbidden.

4. Kurosawa has stated that John Ford, best known for his Westerns, is his favorite director. Can
you see the influence of American Westerns on this film? Give examples.
The influence of American Western movies is clear in Seven Samurai. One of the western tropes
of Outlaws saving a village from bandits is seen in the movie in the form of samurais helping
farmers from bandits. Another trope would be the outlaw falling in love with one of the villagers,
which is also seen through Katsushiro and Shino

5. The Seven Samurai is also very much a WAR picture. Like most war films, it treats the efforts
of different types of people, different segments of society, to pull together and fight a common
enemy. Another aspect of the War Film is that it tends, like most action films, to use weapons
symbolically: each kind of weapon has special connotations attached to it, connotations which
the filmmaker can use deliberately. How does Kurosawa use (a) the sword, (b) the spear, (c) the
bow-and-arrow, and (d) the gun?
(A) The Sword – In traditional Japanese culture, A sword/katana is a symbol of status, pride, and
honor
(B) The Spear – symbolizes the commoners spirit to fight against the bandits with fear, because
the spear is ranged and is mostly used to keep the bandits away from a distance
(C) Bow and arrow – Mostly use by Kambei, the chief samurai, it symbolizes his calm and swift
nature in strategizing and fighting wars
(D) The Gun – A loud and deadly weapon, It symbolizes fear and power. With just one loud shot
everybody in the village cowers and are forced to go into hiding.

6. You’ll notice that each of the seven samurai is introduced differently, and that each has a
distinct personality. Who is your favorite of the seven samurai, and why?
Kambei, the Chief Samurai, A ronin with a calm and patient demeanor, he led the seven samurai
through battle with his keen and intelligent strategies. He became my favorite through that
reason alone.

7. What are, as far as you can tell, the characteristics of the ideal samurai? Who comes closest to
embodying them?
Kambei, because the samurai are known to be calm and collected but fierce in battle, which he
embodies.

8. Kikuchiyo (Toshiro Mifune) is perhaps the most memorable character in the film. Trace his
development, from buffoon to samurai.
Kikuchiyo, despite being a loudmouth and reckless samurai, is shown to be the one who has
connected with the farmers and kids in the village. We later find out that he used to be born from
a farmer family and was orphaned as a kid. He jump through the social classes and became a
samurai

9. When we are first introduced to them, the peasants of the village are all sitting, actually
crouching, in a great circle. Discuss this scene as it unfolds. How does their posture and
positioning reflect their condition in life? What kind of impression do they make?
Their posture shows their inferiority complex. Countless bandits have raided their village leaving
them poor and starved. Their crouched stance and their demeanor with their heads bowed down
shows their hopelessness in their condition and unwillingness to fight.
10. Like most carefully-structured dramas, The Seven Samurai begins with the disruption of the
status quo (the peasants can no longer peacefully live their lives and till their land) and ends
when that status quo is restored. Still, the experience has had a profound effect on the peasants.
How do they change in order to meet their crisis?
They come to accept that they need the help of the samurai, most of the villagers opposed to this
idea due to the terrifying reputation that the samurai has, eventually they invite the samurais to
their village, feed them and house them, because of their dire need in their situation.

11. As in most War films, and many Westerns, this film works with a “coming-of-age” theme, in
its use of Katsushiro, the young samurai. What does Katsushiro come to learn about war, society,
and life in general by the end of the film?
That being a samurai, he will always be bound in battle. He can try to live as one of them, but
being a samurai, he is expected to always fight in the wars and train for battle.

12. What did you find most striking about the final battle scenes?
The movement of the crowds. We see that the villagers have gained their confidence in fighting
back the bandits. Alongside the samurai, they run towards what they fear with confidence. But
this confidence came with a price of the death of four of the samurais.

13. At the end of the film we see the peasants planting rice and the surviving samurai standing in
front of the freshly dug graves of both samurai and peasants. What do you make of this last
image? How do you feel at the end of the picture?
A sad acceptance that death will and always be a part of the life of a samurai. The people they
protect will gain their victory but in the end it is the samurai who lose and fall. But this is the
nature of war, and the samurai have come to accept this.