30 Day Film Challenge: Day 1 - Your Favourite Film

Seven Samurai directed by Akira Kurosawa

This is easily my most favorite film of all time. OF ALL TIME! Not only was it influential in all aspects of life, it’s timeless in the fact that I can watch this movie over and over and over and over again. To me, that’s what makes a good movie. Something you can enjoy no matter how many times you’ve seen it. Every single shot in this film is extremely iconic to me, and I think this is the time of when cinematography was born. The action in this film is of course limited in the fact that it was made in 1954, but I’m very good at settling myself “in the times” and appreciating a film for what it can do with what it has. So to me, the action was epic. This is definitely a classic movie that inspires me to do film. If I had a choice to pick a favorite movie in second place, it would be The Godfather, but sadly Seven Samurai beats The Godfather by a paper thin margin for the fact that Seven Samurai effected the entire realm of cinema, and even video games and anime. My other favorite things. :)

Seven Samurai has influenced RPG games, such as Final Fantasy in the works that it inspired RPG games to have a large cast of characters meeting for the first time to do a large task such as saving the world. The video game Mass Effect 2 embodies the story arc of Seven Samurai. The character Kikuchiyo even inspired the character “Mugen” from the anime Samurai Champloo. Seven Samurai also defines what a Samurai is. They’re true warriors, and they live and die as warriors. Their destiny is set the day they’re born, and in those days, you were either a Farmer, a Merchant, or a Samurai. It was their destiny, but when their destiny no longer had a point, they became Ronin. This film takes place during a time when Samurai are no longer needed, but when a village asked for the help of Samurai, the spirit of the Samurai is revived as they battle to their last breath. 

The characters are so diverse, and you actually care about them. Kikuchiyo is definitely my favorite, as I’m sure he’s everyone’s favorite Samurai for the fact that he’s the only one who has a shining personality. This is what I think movies these days are lacking. They lack creative characters, and they lack the ability to make the audience care for a whole group of them. I think Character is HUGE for any story. If a character is bland, it’s like watching paint dry. Give a character a flaw, give them a personality, and let them shine at least once in the story!

Although, I am ashamed that Japan can never produce good films anymore like Akira Kurosawa did. I don’t think I’ve seen a Japanese film that I liked in this day and age. I want Japanese Cinema to rise again, I want them to have good films instead of crappy adaptations of anime, and manga. Japan is taking an idiotic route that tries to appeal to Western audiences who are also doing nothing but adapting from books and comics. It’s a stupid move, but everyone is a money-grubber so intellectuals are becoming an endangered species.