This film is remarkable for two reasons. It is a study of Japanese culture, and it is a parable about the human spirit.
Although Kurosawa did not direct this, he wrote the screenplay, and his assistant of many years did direct it. It is, however, typical Kurosawa brilliance. As in the Seven Samurai, Kurosawa gently reveals life vignettes of both the common man, ronin, and samurai class people. The care for the common man that Kurosawa shows us has always reminded me of Chaucer. We do not often get to see accurate and non-judgmental portraits of the masses of people whose names never get recorded in history. He also accurately counterpoints, his depiction of the lower classes with vignettes from upper class life and decision-making.
The story itself is simple, but highly enjoyable. The dueling scenes are excellently done, although they lack some of the clash and dash dramatics of typical sword fights from any genre - Western or Eastern. They do appear more realistic. But, the real story is in the people. This is a window to Japanese culture for outsiders, and a window to Japanese historical culture for the Japanese. There are many satisfying moments: the party at the inn, the bokken duels, the duel in the forest, the moment the lord achieves insight into our hero's motivation, and the moment our hero's wife speaks out; all stood out in my mind.
As the characters develop, the conflict we see arise is because our hero is a man who is humble. He is a samurai/Buddhist ideal character, in both his ability, and his humility about it. But he is not a stereotype - he is a very real depiction of the kind of motivation and character you would expect from a person who was slightly outside the normal cultural system of Japan at the time. Kurosawa also examined similar characters and motivation in the Seven Samurai (especially the clown, Mifune's character).
The ending is unresolved, probably to get one to think about the characters actions as the movie ends - the ideal, humble man finding internal happiness, opposed to the typical, driven-to-succeed type who is endlessly chasing his goal.
Although Kurosawa did not direct this, he wrote the screenplay, and his assistant of many years did direct it. It is, however, typical Kurosawa brilliance. As in the Seven Samurai, Kurosawa gently reveals life vignettes of both the common man, ronin, and samurai class people. The care for the common man that Kurosawa shows us has always reminded me of Chaucer. We do not often get to see accurate and non-judgmental portraits of the masses of people whose names never get recorded in history. He also accurately counterpoints, his depiction of the lower classes with vignettes from upper class life and decision-making.
The story itself is simple, but highly enjoyable. The dueling scenes are excellently done, although they lack some of the clash and dash dramatics of typical sword fights from any genre - Western or Eastern. They do appear more realistic. But, the real story is in the people. This is a window to Japanese culture for outsiders, and a window to Japanese historical culture for the Japanese. There are many satisfying moments: the party at the inn, the bokken duels, the duel in the forest, the moment the lord achieves insight into our hero's motivation, and the moment our hero's wife speaks out; all stood out in my mind.
As the characters develop, the conflict we see arise is because our hero is a man who is humble. He is a samurai/Buddhist ideal character, in both his ability, and his humility about it. But he is not a stereotype - he is a very real depiction of the kind of motivation and character you would expect from a person who was slightly outside the normal cultural system of Japan at the time. Kurosawa also examined similar characters and motivation in the Seven Samurai (especially the clown, Mifune's character).
The ending is unresolved, probably to get one to think about the characters actions as the movie ends - the ideal, humble man finding internal happiness, opposed to the typical, driven-to-succeed type who is endlessly chasing his goal.