Seven Samurai (1954) by Akira Kurosawa – (7/10)

Seven Samurai is untouchable, it is a classic. It is one of the handful of non-English spoke movie that have gotten into the Imdb top 250. It has met near universal praise from directors, critics, film lovers, casual movie going public. There is very little disputing its merits. Several scenes from it have now become universal like the approaching horde coming into view as they crest a hilltop. It is wonderfully filmed (notably the action sequences), characters are wonderful (especially Toshirō Mifune, just love him and Takashi Shimura who also played the lead in Ikiru) and the story is a classic. More importantly it is morally ambiguous with the farmers being shown as being far from perfect themselves.

I cannot say that I love it as much as everyone else seems to (I feel like some of Kurosawa’s other movies are better, Roshomon for example or even High and Low), I think that it might be held in a higher regard because of its ambitious scope but there is very little in denying its merits.

High and Low (1963) by Akira Kurosawa – (7/10)

It seems like an odd thing to say considering Kurosawa’s legacy (and the fact that I consider him to be overrated, good but overrated), I do think that High and Low is a bit of an underrated movie. It is among his best works (and better than many famous works) but it doesn’t seem to be quite as highly regarded or quite as famous, maybe because it doesn’t have samurai in it?

It plays out as an excellent ransom/ detective story in which a companies executive (played by Toshirō Mifune) son gets kidnapped and a ransom for him is demanded at the exact same time that he needs the money to complete a buyout or else he will loose everything. The movie centers on both the decision that he has to make as well as the police’s chase for the culprit. Kurosawa was a bit obsessed with getting things right so it is wonderfully shot, the moral dilemmas get handled in an interesting way, the chase is exiting but what makes the whole truly great is the ending. Where the victim and the culprit are confronted and we find out about his motives. It is one of the best things that Kurosawa has made in my opinion.