Seven Samurai

[Orlac]

My problem with the BFI subs on their 1999 dvd is they were burnt in, and there were lots of random lines missing.

If I remember rightly, that was the BFI's second DVD release ever. To say that technical and presentational standards have improved since then is an understatement on the order of saying that the Pacific Ocean is quite large.

Presumably you wouldn't compare an impending Criterion release with something that they put out 14-15 years ago?

No, it was just a case of "oh, i'd have preferred it if..."

[reaky]

The BFI have been at the top of their game in recent years with their DVD/Blu releases. My hopes for this are as high as if MoC were releasing it.

[kindaikun]

My problem with the BFI subs on their 1999 dvd is they were burnt in, and there were lots of random lines missing.

If I remember rightly, that was the BFI's second DVD release ever.

And I think it was around the second DVD I ever owned. I kind of hope they include Phillip Kemp's visual essay this time too though. I know it's probably far out of date in terms of extra features these days, but I think it was my introduction to these kind of extras (and extras of any kind really, since we never had laserdiscs) and I still retain a fondness for it.

As reaky says though, high hopes for this. Hope it manages to live up.

[manicsounds]

I'm glad BFI is doing this. I had problems reading the subs on the Criterion Kurosawas as they are too faint. Hopefully the BFi will do other titles like Yojimbo.

I can't remember exactly now but I seem to remember words like 'bozo!' and 'asshole!' appearing particularly incongruous.

Pretty sure it will be changed to "wanker" and "arsehole" on the BFI version. I always thought it was lazy on Tartan's part that the subtitles would be the same for the US and UK discs.　All the US discs had British slang and spelling throughout.

Any mention of extras on the BFI disc?

[bdlover]

Subs forced or burnt in or not, that's the question. The rightsholder particularly fussy about this if I recall.

[MichaelB]

Subs forced or burnt in or not, that's the question. The rightsholder particularly fussy about this if I recall.

They certainly won't be burned in, and I'd be very surprised if they were forced - they're not on the Criterion release, are they?

[Jonathan S]

I don't have the blu-ray but the subs are certainly optional on the three-disc Criterion DVD edition (2006).

[EddieLarkin]

Do any Criterion discs have forced subs? I've certainly never seen the option missing from their Blu-ray menus.

[MichaelB]

I suspect bdlover may be confusing forced subs and region-locking, over which Japanese rightsholders are indeed "particularly fussy".

(You can guarantee this release will be Region B, in line with all the BFI's other Japanese Blu-rays).

[bdlover]

Subs are burned in to the previous BFI DVD release, no? Good to hear they won't be this time, though.

[MichaelB]

Subs are burned in to the previous BFI DVD release, no?

As has already been mentioned, that DVD came out fourteen years ago. If you apply exactly the same "logic" to Criterion, you'd be expressing concerns that an upcoming release might be a non-anamorphic DVD sourced from an old laserdisc master.

Good to hear they won't be this time, though.

I don't know for certain, but I'd be very very surprised. There's certainly no precedent in the BFI's Blu-ray catalogue.

[bdlover]

Sure, it was a while ago now, but the DVD is still on the market and I remember when it came out the burned in subs were justified as a rightsholder stipulation rather than a technical necessity. From the looks of things, they've since changed their position on this with other labels so all is looking good as you say.

[swo17]

I believe that DVD also included a featurette about how the world is flat. Hopefully they've since changed their position on that as well.

[antnield]

Trailer.

[manicsounds]

Digitally Re-mastered in High Definition
Play with or without Original Intermission
Original Japanese Theatrical Trailer
The Art of Akira Kurosawa (2013, 49 mins): Asian-Cinema Expert Tony Rayns Discusses Kurosawa's Career and Influence
Fully Illustrated Booklet with Essays and Credits

Still pales in comparison to the Criterion extras, but nice that they included a lengthy featurette.

[nissling]

I got this steelbook last week and the transfer was nothing special. Unimpressive detail, lack of depth and it has a quite bold look throughout the film. The Criterion Blu-Ray looks way better. The case and booklet are unremarkable too but Tony Rayns' discussion is interesting. Not interesting enough for me to recommend it though.

[manicsounds]

bluraydefinition review

[FrauBlucher]

Not a very strong review.

[MichaelB]

The Digital Fix.

[manicsounds]

Looks like a Kurosawa Blu-ray set is coming soon on September 22nd:

Five classic samurai films by the legendary Japanese director, Akira Kurosawa. 'Seven Samurai' (1954) tells the story of a group of 17th-century warriors recently detached from the powerful masters who once paid them. Veteran samurai Kambei (Takashi Shimura) is the leader of the group hired by the residents of a village suffering at the hands of a marauding band of thieves. Five of his cohorts are trained warriors, but the sixth, Kikuchiyo (Toshiro Mifune), is actually the son of a farmer, desperate to earn his spurs on the battlefield. The basics of the story served as the blueprint for the western classic 'The Magnificent Seven'.

'Throne of Blood' (1957), Akira Kurosawa's film version of 'Macbeth', transfers the action to medieval Japan. A samurai warrior (Toshiro Mifune) is urged to murder his lord (Takashi Shimura) and his best friend (Minoru Chiaki) by a forest spirit and an ambitious wife (Isuzu Yamada). Kurosawa renders 'the Scottish play' through the conventions of traditional Japanese Noh theatre, creating what was reputedly TS Eliot's favourite film. The famous ending sees Toshiro Mifune caught under hails of arrows.

Winner of the Best Director Award at the 1959 Berlin Film Festival, 'The Hidden Fortress' (1958) is regarded by many to be one of Kurosawa's finest, and has been acknowledged by George Lucas as the principle inspiration for 'Star Wars'. Set in 16th-century Japan, the story centres on rival clans, hidden gold and a princess in distress. Tahei (Minoru Chaiki) and Matashichi (Kamatari Fujiwara) are two cowardly soldiers on the run from an advancing enemy army. As they search the country for a cache of secret gold, they join forces with Rokurota Makabe (Toshiro Mifune), a samurai warrior who is escorting a fiesty princess (Misa Uehara) through enemy territory. The mismatched travellers then have to fight a number of battles before they finally come within sight of their goal.

Kurosawa combines elements of the western and the film noir in the classic adventure 'Yojimbo' (1961). Yojimbo (Toshiro Mifune), a freelance Samurai warrior, sells his services to rival factions in a small Japanese village. When he is betrayed, he turns his skills against his former employers, determined that the two warring sides should destroy each other. 'Yojimbo' was later remade by Sergio Leone as the Clint Eastwood spaghetti western 'A Fistful of Dollars'.

In the samurai spoof 'Sanjuro' (1962), a sequel of sorts to 'Yojimbo', shabby samurai Sanjuro (Toshiro Mifune) teams up with eight young warriors who seek out corruption among the elders of their clan. They also embark on a mission to rescue a kidnapped chancellor from a corrupt war lord.

[EddieLarkin]

Assuming these are Toho transfers like Seven Samurai was, then Throne of Blood and The Hidden Fortress may be inferior to their Criterion counterparts.

Yojimbo and Sanjuro on the other hand, I believe Toho have more recent transfers that are superior to what Criterion used, with a much more natural appearance as opposed to Criterion's contrast boosted discs (think Harakiri MoC vs. Criterion). Unfortunately I can no longer find the caps I've seen. Hopefully separate releases will be forthcoming.

[manicsounds]

bluraydefinition review of the Kurosawa Samurai Collection

[EddieLarkin]

I'm not sure if my prediction above is correct without seeing comparisons, but what is very blatant is that Sanjuro has an *sigh* incorrect colour space. Spot the difference:

Throne of Blood
Hidden Fortress
Sanjuro

[hearthesilence]

Metrograph screened Janus's 35mm print on Saturday. It was the first time I saw this film projected and many years (maybe more than a decade? ugh) since I last saw it in general.

When I first got into cinema, Kurosawa's films were the most accessible for anyone raised on Hollywood films, but they were also readily available. So I think maybe 90% of the Japanese films I saw in high school were Kurosawa's, while in the past ten years, it's been mostly others with Ozu and Mizoguchi getting the lion's share. (Mizoguchi especially because I was finally able to see films that were long unavailable in decent quality.)

I bring that up because one thing other filmmakers made me consider more was the impact WWII had on their own work. Kurosawa does address things like the atomic bomb in a few of his films, but for whatever reason, it didn't come to mind when I watched his period films (i.e. possibly the bulk of his work). But films like Mizoguchi's The 47 Ronin or Ozu's A Hen in the Wind (which I saw again a few weeks ago) really made me more conscious of how Japanese films were either shaped by WWII or grappling with the aftermath.

I always thought of The Seven Samurai as being a great war film, so it feels strange to me now that I never placed it within the context of postwar Japan. Nine years isn't that far removed from the end of WWII, and I think that played a big role in shaping and developing the wealth of ideas in this film. Just compare it to The Magnificent Seven or Saving Private Ryan (which consciously modeled itself after it). It seems to highlight the differences in history and culture, and I was left with the impression that a defeated country was far more likely to re-examine and interrogate the culture surrounding war in edifying ways that a proud and jingoistic country would not like to do. The myriad class conflicts and moral hypocrisies are either watered down or stripped away elsewhere (turning samurai/military officers into "gunfighters" will do that), but they're always there in The Seven Samurai.

[Black Hat]

Very well put HTS. Like you, I saw Seven Samurai on 35 for the first time in forever at a sold out Film Forum screening last year, incredible experience.