Seven Samurai (BFI Film Classics) - Softcover

Mellen, Joan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 085170915X ISBN 13: 9780851709154

Publisher: British Film Institute, 2002

Synopsis

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 medieval history and the film's visual language.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

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.

About the Author:

Joan Mellen is Professor of English and Creative Writing at Temple University in Philadelphia. Among her books are Marilyn Monroe (1973), Voices from the Japanese Cinema (1975), The Waves at Genji's Door: Japan Through Its Cinema (1976) and the dual biography Hellman and Hammett: The Legendary Passion of Lilian Hellman and Dashiell Hammett (1996).

About this edition

• Publisher: British Film Institute
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 085170915X
• ISBN 13: 9780851709154
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 80