Seven Samurai The True Warriors example essay topic

I'm really hard pressed to find any similarities between The Tale of Heike, and Seven Samurai aside from the warrior caste of samurai. One thing that might be worth noting is that honor came before the personal self. In Heike the warring factions constantly stop their engagements to test one another's code of honor and skill, usually in the form of a contest; for example shooting an arrow through a fan. In Seven Samurai the true warriors-not the farmers-seemed to be aiding the peasants for no other reason than bound by honor because of being a warrior, and also perhaps seeking an honorable samurai's death. It really struck me how good the story of the Seven Samurai is, and also how universal its appeal is to many cultures. The theme of putting yourself second and helping those that need to be helped transcends into many cultures.

So much so that the remake of The Magnificent Seven was revamped towards a Western culture audience. Even Stephen King paid tribute to Akira Kurosawa in a prologue to his up coming book, Part V in the Dark Tower series. In Stephen King's book a small farming community is plagued by a group they call "wolves" that come and steal their children. Like in Seven Samurai one farmer convinces the rest to fight, and they hire a wondering group of Gunslingers to help them. Not only is the plot line the same, but in Seven Samurai the farmer / samurai, who was also the thieve in Rashomon, I can not remember his name, called the bandits "wolves" a few times in the second half of the movie. Actually, I have a printed copy I'd be happy to let you read, if you wish.

Part V isn't out yet, but Stephen King on his website admitted that even more obvious tributes to Akira Kurosawa will be in the published book. One scene in the movie that I thought was extremely symbolic was after Manzo found out about his daughter and the young samurai's relationship he was in an uproar that night. In the film a shot is on the fire and then it starts to rain and the audience watches the fire die out, and at this same moment in the movie is also when the farmers and the samurai's fire to fight dampens because of Manzo's anger. In Kurosawa's autobiography he says that the principal theme in all his movies is change, an out with the old and in with the new idea. I think the best example of this in Seven Samurai is the changing of how warfare is fought. The battle between the old ways of Bushido and the new school of using guns is clearly presented in the film.

The master-swordsman, again I'm bad with names, is the best with his blade and arguably the picture perfect samurai in the movie dies from some lesser bandit's gun, hidden in a barn. If they fought by the code of Bushido it is not a question who would have won; but because warfare was changing in the sixteenth century a true warrior could be easily killed by a less skilled guns-man.