Seven samurai / Joan Mellen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mellen, Joan, author.

Series:

BFI film classics.

BFI Film Classics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Kurosawa, Akira, 1910-1998--Criticism and interpretation.

Kurosawa, Akira.

Kurosawa, Akira, 1910-1998.

British Film Institute.

Shichinin no samurai (Motion picture).

Film & Media.

Local Subjects:

British Film Institute.

Film & Media.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (83 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

London : British Film Institute : Bloomsbury Publishing (UK), 2002.

Summary:

In the film 'Seven Samurai' (1954) a whole society is on the verge of irrevocable change. Many people consider this film a major achievemnet in Japanese cinema, an epic that evokes the cultural upheaval brought on by the collapse of Japanese militarism in the 16th century, echoing the sweeping changes occuring in the aftermath of the American occupation. The plot is deceptively simple. A village of farmers is beset by a horde of bandits, and in desperation the village hire itinerant samurai to protect their crops and their village. In the end the samurai see off the bandits. Together the samurai reflect the ideals and values of a noble class near the point of extinction. The film may be a technical masterpiece, and despite its movement and violence it appears to be a lament for a lost nobility. In this book Mellen contextualizes 'Seven Samurai', marking its place in Japanese cinema, and in director, Akira Kurosawa's career. Mellen explores the film's roots in mediaeval history and the film's visual language.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Online resource; description from resource and publisher's metadata (viewed on 25 September 2020).

ISBN:

9781838712785

183871278X

9781838718039

1838718036

OCLC:

1189770383

Publisher Number:

206153