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Samurai Movies
Top 3 Best Samurai Films to Watch
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Best Samurai Films
Japanese Samurai films started over a hundred years ago. The Japanese had a pre-cinematic device called the Gento (magic lantern). Therefore, when the Lumière brothers’ arrived in 1897 and introduced the moving pictures, the Japanese were not amazed by it.
The first documentary film was the Geisha no Teodori that focused on the everyday life of the Geisha. After it became famous, that’s when the film industry in Japan started to flourish.
Japan’s cinema has a lot of genres like the Anime, Kaiju, as well as the Jidaigeki and Chambara.
The Jidaigeki genre became popular with the help of the actor and actress Matsunosuke Onoe and Tokuko Nagai Takagi.
Samurai Films: The Chambara and the Jidaigeki
In Japanese Samurai films, there are two genres; these are the Chambara and the Jidaigeki. The Chambara refers to the sword-fighting movies, and Jidaigeki refers to the swordsmanship skills of the Samurai.
The legendary Akira Kurosawa was one of the practitioners of these two genres. He was able to produce a lot of amazing films. At first, he was a scriptwriter and assistant director. But due to his hard work, he was able to launch his own film.
During World War II, the first film of Akira Kurosawa called the Sanshiro Sugata or more popularly known as the Judo Saga became popular. Because of that, his career as a director started to flourish.
Aside from Akira Kurosawa, other film directors were able to produce outstanding Samurai films. Some ot them are the director of 47 Ronin, the director of the Twilight Samurai and the director of the award-winning film The Last Samurai.
With that, we have selected the top three renowned Samurai films.
Top 3: Seven Samurai (1954)
The first Samurai film is the Seven Samurai. This film was one of the best Samurai films that made the Jidaigeki genre more popular.
The film was about the Samurai who voluntarily helped to protect the farmers from the bandits.
The story started when one of the farmers who live in the village heard that some bandits would raid their small town to steal their crop of rice. So, the immediate action of the elders in their village was to hire someone who will protect them.
At first, there was only one Samurai, and then, he, later on, hired his fellow unemployed men to become Samurai too. Time went by, and during their stay in the village, the seven Samurai found out that the villagers killed their fellow Samurai in the past.
This film earned a lot of awards and attention internationally. It gained further recognition when it caught the attention of the New York Film Critics Circle Awards. Seven Samurai also won in Jussi Awards and Mainichi Film Concours.
Top 2: 47 Ronin (2013)
This film was about the forty-seven Samurai who lost their master in a battle.
The story began when Lord Kira felt that the Shogun was always in favor of Lord Asano’s decisions. The jealousy of Lord Kira started to grow; he planned to kill the Daimyo by sending a shapeshifter. Unfortunately, the assassination was successful; he was able to kill the Daimyo.
When Kai found out the truth about the Daimyo’s death, he and the other Ronin avenged for their master’s death. After successfully avenging for their master’s death, the forty-seven masterless Samurai committed Seppuku or the ritual of killing themselves since their master does not live anymore.
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The budget of this film was $175 million, but the grossed only reach $151 million. So, this film became one of the “Hollywood’s biggest box office bombs of 2013”.
They say that one of the reasons why this movie did not become popular was the fact that it was not able to catch the attention of the audiences.
However, given the fact that the film received a lot of negative comments, the movie still gained a lot of awards. Like when it caught the attention of The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films and Motion Picture Sound Editors.
Top 1: The Last Samurai (2003)
This film was about an American who became part of the ancient Samurai warrior class.
The story began when Captain Nathan Algren became the facilitator of the new set of soldiers. They, the westerners, aim to eradicate the existence of the Samurai who lives in the rural area of Japan.
Captain Nathan started a clash with the Samurai warriors. They were able to kill one of the Samurai’s leaders. Unfortunately, they captured Capt. Nathan.
During his stay in the Samurai village, he saw the lifestyle of the Samurai and started to appreciate them. At first, Samurai treated him as a slave and as an enemy.
Months later, the Samurai treated him as their subordinate and ally, so he began to have affection with the Samurai.
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The government started to search for him; unfortunately, when they found out about what happened, they despised Captain Nathan along with his new allies and invaded them.
In the end, he was the only one who survived the attack while his other allies did not make it.
Among all the Samurai films that tell an inspiring story about the life of the Samurai, this is the only film that received a lot of nominations and awards internationally.
The Last Samurai received awards from ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards and Awards of Japanese Academy.
Aside from the awards the film received as a winner, The Last Samurai also became a nominee for several media awards. These are from Blue Red Ribbons and the Ethnic Multicultural Media Awards, U.K.
The Symbolic Representation of Samurai Films
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A lot of people believe that movies or Samurai films like these are strongly influential. Do you agree? Moreover, each of the Samurai films listed above also has a symbolic representation of ancient Japanese history.
Seven Samurai depicts the traditional roles and duties of a Samurai.
47 Ronin strongly symbolizes one of the virtues of the Samurai, which is Loyalty.
The Last Samurai represents the invasion of the Westerners to Japan.
Now, given the top three Samurai films, which would you watch first? Or, after watching, which one’s your favorite? Is it Seven Samurai, 47 Ronin, or The Last Samurai?