Reply #18: "The Seven Samurai" is one of the greatest films ever made

[kwassa]

It is a major morality tale, it is about self-centered people who come to sacrifice themselves for the greater good.

The haircuts are ritualized samurai cuts. The samaurai are a specific warrior class, far above the peasants they guarded in this film, who were quite socially beneath them. The parallel in Western history would be knights, without a Lord to be in service to, and who had no reason for existence. Another theme of the film is about the need for humanity in a time of chaos. The leaderless samurai come together to save people that have no one to defend them against the barbarous bandits.

There is a huge social commentary about classes in this film that you may have missed. Toshiro Mifune plays the comic peasant who pretends to be a samurai, which is actually quite dangerous to do, as it violates the social codes, and he really doesn't have the necessary skills to carry it off. For all his foolishness, he is quite courageous.

It is a great tale, I could go on and on about it.