Seven Samurai VS The Magnificent Seven
Thesis:
The original film ‘Seven Samurai’ and the Hollywood remake ‘The magnificent Seven’, both these films were reviewed successfully and produced very well.
Seven Samurai a 1954 film directed by Akira Kurosawa and Hollywoods remake The Magnificent Seven a 1960 film directed by John Sturges, both these films have had a connection with the audience as these films hold a special place in their respective Japanese and American cinema. This essay will discuss the representations and institutions of the two films, the essay will also discuss the cultural meaning of both films. Paragraph one will discuss the genres, characters and their representations, Paragraph two will introduce the cultural significance in Hollywood and Japan, and Paragraph three will discuss how the Hollywood’s system changed the original film. The Magnificent Seven and Seven Samurai have both had successful reviews as these films have not just impressed the audience but they have also impressed the “Cinema World”, these movies offer up some fascinating areas of distinction.
Both ‘The Magnificent Seven’ and ‘Seven Samurai’ explored the characters representations, and the differences in the genres. Seven Samurai, being the longer film, had more time to focus on the different characters. The Magnificent Seven, takes two different story lines of different characters and brings them together into one. In Samurai there is Katsushiro (the young one who has to prove himself) and Kikuchiyo (the eccentric one of humble origins) are complied into Chico, who carries both of these character’s stories. The Magnificent Seven show more of the villain, Seven Samurai’s bandits are unremarkable, and at most, always commanding. They have no real personality. In Magnificent Seven, the bandits have a leader with a name and some notable characterisation. What we get is one of the better villains in the Western genre, brought to life by The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly’s Eli Wallach. The story line in the Hollywood remake ‘ Magnificent Seven’ is completely different from the original ‘Seven Samurai’ as the genres are different as well as one being a western film and the other being a Historical film, made only six years apart, you'd expect ‘Seven Samurai’ and ‘The Magnificent Seven’ to be virtually identical. Even though in many ways, it is like watching completely two different movies. The representations in the two films send out different messages too the audience such as The Samurai worriers, for example, are one of the heroic character types in Japanese culture which represent Japanese cultural values. While samurai are a portrayed as a slightly proud but ultimately well-intended bunch, it’s worth noting that cowboys have a greater capacity for evil, since “cowboy” is a bit of an ambiguous term that can apply to ranchers, bandits, bounty hunters, and sheriffs alike. Magnificent Seven simply refers to its characters as “hired guns.” They are relics of a bygone era. America doesn’t have cowboys anymore, and Japan doesn’t have Samurai. These folk heroes also take on the essence of their nation; to show good-hearted cowboys can be a representation of American resolve, just as good-hearted samurai can show the courage of the Japanese people.
‘Seven Samurai’ and ‘The Magnificent Seven’ both films introduce their cultural significance in different ways in Hollywood and Japan. The only genuine criticism to be made of ‘Seven Samurai’ and ‘The Magnificent Seven’, is that the remake is too faithful to the original and holds on to themes that can’t cross the cultural divide like Seven Samurai. However from watching both of the films I do believe that Seven Samurai as the better of the two. ‘Seven Samurai’ represents the Japanese culture, which Hollywood took the idea and produced a representation of cowboys. ‘Seven Samurai shows a true story of how the Japanese people used to live in 1954, during war time. People in Japan used to be poor and lived in miserable villages with hardly no food to eat, Kurosawa showed the lower levels of the class structure and economic difficulties that the people faced. Sturges Magnificent Seven film added music and produced a colour film, the villagers in the remake is less extreme and overwhelming to watch. The cultural representations in The Magnificent Seven didn’t belong in a western film, but it was used anyway, which is why it was different from other cowboy films. In Seven Samurai, Samurai’s were very popular in Japan and were seen as a very high social status and noble. Western films seemed to grab more of the audience attention when it was re-made, which is why it was popular than the original. Samurai’s were soldiers of high social status, the Samurai’s that looked after the village in Seven Samurai have fallen on hard times, which is why it was there job to defend the village. The warriors in The Magnificent Seven were all rule breakers, and lived the outlaw life by choice, except for Lee. The warriors chose to stand up for their village and they don't hold a very high social status. Hollywood re-made a successful film in changing the cultural representations, and still to today it is reviewed as one of the best remakes.
Hollywood’s remake The Magnificent Seven is changed from the way Seven Samurai told the story, hollywood took a historical drama film and turned it into a cowboy film. Hollywood’s remake of Seven Samurai tells a more fiction story, as the original film shows real life experiences and the history of the Japanese culture. Sturges, created a western film, even though Kurosawa’s original film does not tell a western film, hollywood changed the way Japanese culture is represented and didn't show the real life experiences like Seven Samurai. Both of these films costed a lot to produce, Seven Samurai film too a year to complete, it had become a topic of wide discussion long before it was released. The production costed around half a million dollars, the film was the first Samurai that Akira Kurosawa directed, The investment of The Magnificent Seven film was over $2million dollars on the production. Hollywood spent more money than Japan in making the film, as we know hollywood is always going out of its way when it comes to producing films, Sturges has created a more modern film which engages the audience attention more. Kurosawa’s film was more of a slow and long movie it didn't have that exciting vibe of wanting to watch a film, as The Magnificent Seven was one of hollywoods best remakes and is a more exciting to watch, however watching a movie in colour and watching it in black and white does make a difference. These films have both been well produced and well directed, I do believe that the Seven Samurai told a better story than The Magnificent Seven as it was more of a real life movie and told the history and culture of Japan, The Magnificent Seven was a twisted plot of the real story in Seven Samurai. Hollywood’s idea of film making always gets carried away as hollywood seems to most of the time drift away from the meaningful message that the film is supposed to tell.
Overall, Seven Samurai a 1954 film directed by Akira Kurosawa and Hollywoods remake The Magnificent Seven a 1960 film directed by John Sturges, both films have been well produced and well directed. Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven both sent out different representations of the cultures and characters, as the hollywoods remake tells a story about cowboys and the original tells a historical real life story, even though when we watch the two films its like watching to completely different movies. However, both films still remain as the “Greatest film of all time” and the “Worlds best remake”.
Bibliography
MegaEssays.com. (n.d.). Retrieved May 16, 2016, from http://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/96927.html
Seven Samurai (1954) vs. The Magnificent Seven (1960). (2014). Retrieved May 16, 2016, from http://kimt.com/2014/09/26/seven-samurai-1954-vs-the-magnificent-seven-1960/
How does Seven Samurai compare to the western remake, The Magnificent Seven? (n.d.). Retrieved May 16, 2016, from https://www.quora.com/How-does-Seven-Samurai-compare-to-the-western-remake-The-Magnificent-Seven
The Magnificent Seven. (n.d.). Retrieved May 16, 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magnificent_Seven
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