History Film / SevenSamurai

* ArtisticLicenceHistory: Played with both ways. The film portrays the main samurai of the cast as men of courage and integrity, but also acknowledges that the majority of samurai were brutal thugs who used their higher social position to oppress the weak. Several of the bandits are implied to be {{ronin}}, with the leader having a full set of samurai armour and another being a skilled horse archer (something samurai were traditionally trained in). Kurosawa said he did this because he's descended from a samurai family, and wanted in some way to apologize for his ancestor's actions. While the Japanese regard this film as a classic, many were upset at this particular deconstruction.

* BaldHeadOfToughness: Again, Kambei is an old, badass samurai, and he has not one hair on his head. Inverted in-story, as Kambei shaves his head early on to impersonate a monk in his EstablishingCharacterMoment, something [[ImportantHaircut no honorable (read: proud) samurai would do.]]

* LargeHam: Kikuchiyo again. His presence is bigger than the other six put together.

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: Kikuchiyo abandons his contingent of farmers, leading to Yohei's and Gorōbei's deaths. He makes up for it during the FinalBattle by rescuing the village women and killing the bandits' leader, before dying of a gunshot wound inflicted by said leader.]]

* JackOfAllStats: The samurai have their own specialities, but Kambei is pretty good in all those fields as well. He's a damn fine swordsman, but [[MasterSwordsman Kyûzô is the best fighter]]; he looks at morale from the big picture while [[DrillSergeantNasty Shichirōji]] is good at personally motivating the men; he's good with a bow, but [[TheArcher Gorōbei is the designated archer]]; and while he's a great tactician and strategist, Kikuchiyo is the TheSocialExpert, and the [[TheHeart true conscience]] to remind the samurai what they're truly fighting for.

* TheRuntAtTheEnd: Katsuhiro tagging along with the much older samurai. Of course, Kikuchiyo is the real odd one out of that group.

* FalseReassurance: Kikuchiyo assures the bandit he meets (who assumes Kikuchiyo is a fellow bandit) ''Don't worry. All your troubles are soon over''. [[spoiler:Kikuchiyo stabs him with his BFS.]]

* WeHelpTheHelpless: The film gives a somewhat ambivalent and often cynical treatment of this. Yes, the seven samurai are willing to stand up and protect a peaceful peasant village against overwhelming odds, but Kambei and Shichirōji are implied to see it as TheLastDance, Katsushirō is a starstruck GlorySeeker who doesn't even need the meager rice stipend the farmers are willing to pay him with, Kyûzô and Gorōbei [[ItAmusedMe have seemingly nothing better to do]] and Hehachi is so poor he'll take any job that feeds him. Finally, Kikuchiyo joins because he wants to join the other samurai.

* BlessedWithSuck: Being samurai may put you in the top rank of society, but that doesn't mean much when you're broke. The virtues samurai have sworn to uphold also limit their lifestyle choices, like their choice of employment or spouse[[note]]Samurai were in fact forbidden from taking up any vocation at all outside of fighting or serving a lord in a similar capacity; those who owned land lived off their taxes, a few were employed by the government as administrators, and the remainder either went into service to a landlord or became {{ronin}}. During the later Edo period, a large amount of samurai families were wholly dependent on a rice stipend from the government to stay alive[[/note]].

* TheWomenAreSafeWithUs: Manzo is so terrified that his daughter will be raped by the Samurai that he cuts off her hair to disguise her as a boy.

* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler:Four of the seven, and even the comic relief.]]

* ArtisticLicenceHistory: Played with both ways. The film portrays the main samurai of the cast as men of courage and integrity, but also acknowledges that the majority of samurai were brutal thugs who used their higher social position to oppress the weak. Kurosawa said he did this because he's descended from a samurai family, and wanted in some way to apologize for his ancestor's actions. While the Japanese regard this film as a classic, many were upset at this particular deconstruction.
* AttackAttackAttack: The bandits fight to the last man without ever considering that there might be easier places to rob. The final bandit, hiding with the women, still sees fit to shoot at the samurai and betray his position rather than simply flee. This is partially explained by the bandit leader executing a couple of men who try to flee. Most likely, raiding this village was the only way to keep forty bandits fed.[[note]]The American remake ''The Magnificent Seven'' resolved this puzzle by stating explicitly that the bandits were starving and had to take the village to make it through the winter.[[/note]]

* BadassBoast: During the final battle, Kikuychio gathers a cluster of swords because he won't be able to kill enough bandits with just one.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Shichirōji is a friendly, pleasant guy, but he absolutely loses it when Kikuchiyo brings in stolen armour that Manzo had been hiding in his house, tackles Kikuchiyo and lashes out on the farmers who brought the armour by hurling a spear in their direction.
* {{BFS}}: Kikuchiyo's nodachi is almost as big as he is.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: The village and its people are saved. But four of the samurai are dead, and Katsushirō probably cannot remain with Shino. Kambei, reviewing the scene of their victory, sadly remarks "In the end, we lost this battle too. I mean, the victory belongs to the peasants, not to us."]]
* BlessedWithSuck: Being samurai may put you in the top rank of society, but that doesn't mean much when you're broke. The virtues samurai have sworn to uphold also limit their lifestyle choices, like their choice of employment or spouse.

* BlueBlood: The samurai, naturally. [[spoiler: Most notable with the rich but inexperienced Katsushirō, and least with the naturally humble Heihachi. And it doesn't apply to Kikuchiyo no matter how many fourteen-year-olds he impersonates.]]
* BoisterousBruiser: Kikuchiyo, the farmer's son turned would-be samurai. Double points by being played by ''Toshiro Mifune'', of all people.
* BoomerangBigot: [[spoiler: Kikuchiyo hates farmers. It turns out he's a farmer's son]].

* CentralTheme: Who has it better, the peasants who live normal but undistinguished lives or the warriors who live exciting but violent lives?

** In RealLife, being a samurai sucked. They weren't allowed to change jobs to earn money. They could only rely on their martial prowess to make a living. And the possibility of death is very high.

** The final decisive battle is quick and the opposite of grand. Before you know it [[spoiler:the bandits are all dead and two of the five remaining samurai have fallen in battle]]. The entire thing is played as realistically as possible, [[WarIsHell from beginning to end]].

* DressingAsTheEnemy: Kikuchiyo sees a [[IndyPloy quick opportunity]] to grab one of the muskets by quickly plundering a fallen bandit's gear, then walking right up to the musketeer and talking to him. The musketeer eventually realizes no bandit would carry a 5 1/2 foot nodachi. [[spoiler: It doesn't save him. And unfortunately, this gets Gorōbei and Yohei killed in the ensuing attack.]]
* DoubleEntendre: Kikuchiyo to the musketeer bandit: ''Don't worry. All your troubles are soon over''. [[spoiler: Kikuchiyo beheads him with his BFS.]]
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Rikichi's wife.]]

** Kikuchiyo is quickly established as a ruffian and buffoon, who shows up completely wasted in his attempt to join the team of samurai and tries to pass himself off as one of them with a scroll he stole, but he gets his moment later on, when he uses a simple false alarm to bring the samurai and the farmer militia together.

* FirearmsAreRevolutionary: [[spoiler:The samurai who die are killed by firearms.]]

* GenderBlenderName: Kikuchiyo is actually a ''girl's'' name. (Actually two girls' names in one). It helps that the drunken, illiterate, then-nameless wannabe samurai picked out his name at random.

* GunsVsSwords: The samurai fear the bandit's arquebusers more than any other threat, [[spoiler:and with good reason - more of their number die from bullet wounds than any other cause]].

* KatanasAreJustBetter: Averted, as there's little they can do against muskets at range. The peasants also use long spears against the sword-wielding bandits.

* KnightInShiningArmor: Subverted. The samurai are enraged when they discover that the villagers whom they are defending have in the past sometimes killed samurai escaping from battles and stripped them of their armor and weapons. As the other samurai begin muttering about how they'd like to slaughter the entire village, Kikuchiyo [[spoiler:(who was born a commoner)]] angrily reminds them that it was living under samurai rule that forced the villagers to live like that in the first place. This case of WriterOnBoard is widely held to be an apology by Kurosawa, who was from a family with samurai heritage.

* MookDepletion: The eponymous samurai learn approximately 40 bandits will attack the town they are defending come harvest time. They spend time training the villagers, staging raids on sleeping bandits, creating fortifications and traps, picking off the problematic bandits with muskets (the bandits have muskets, making them very dangerous to the samurai), and so on in order to deplete the bandits. Kambei, the oldest and wisest of the samurai, even says "We must reduce them," in the English subtitles.

** When Rikichi tries to go into the bandits' burning camp to try and save his wife, [[spoiler: Heihachi is killed dragging him to safety]]. Rikichi understandably feels terrible about it afterwards.

* NoRespectGuy: Kikuchiyo is a bumbling wannabe samurai who is a complete laughing stock of his companions, especially [[TheGadfly Heihachi]]. No matter what he tries, he looks like an idiot in front of everyone. Though he does earn a little bit of respect once in a while [[spoiler: and after he dies, he is buried with his sword like the other three samurai casualties]].
* NonIndicativeName: The seven heroes are composed of six ''ronin'' and a peasant.

* PetTheDog: While Kikuchiyo's default personality is screaming derision, this makes him popular with the village's children.

* PyrrhicVictory: The samurai succeed. But it's debatable whether they ''won...''
--> '''Kambei:''' So, again we are defeated. The farmers have won. Not us.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: In possibly the most emotionally-charged scene of the movie, Kikuchiyo delivers one to the farmers, then turns around and delivers an equally scathing one to the samurai, setting up TheReveal.

* {{Ronin}}: The "seven samurai" are ronin, samurai with no master, [[spoiler:and Kikuchiyo's technically a peasant]].

* TheSiege: One happens to the village. This one is over very quickly.

* WeHelpTheHelpless: The film gives a somewhat ambivalent and often cynical treatment of this.
* WhamShot: When Kikuchiyo is training the farmers, they all have simple bamboo spears... except for Yohei who seemingly grabbed a proper spear out of nowhere.

** During the duel between Kyûzô and the unnamed ronin, Kambei mutters that it's obvious who would win, even though the duellists came to a draw before. It is another indication to the audience that Kambei is not just strategist who relies on sneaky tricks, and is actually a legitimate fighter.

This film -- very frequently appearing in Top Ten of All Time lists -- is a TropeMaker or early example for many tropes.

!!''Seven Samurai'' provides examples of the following tropes:

''Seven Samurai'' is a 1954 Japanese film directed by Creator/AkiraKurosawa under Creator/{{Toho}}; it starred his longtime collaborators Takashi Shimura and Creator/ToshiroMifune in two of the lead roles. It is considered by many Western critics to be the one of the best Japanese film of all time, and quite a few of them consider it to be [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_considered_the_best one of the best films ever made]], period. In any case, it's been a highly influential film for decades.

''Seven Samurai'' is a 1954 Japanese film directed by Creator/AkiraKurosawa under Creator/{{Toho}}; it starred his longtime collaborators Takashi Shimura and Creator/ToshiroMifune in two of the lead roles. It is considered by many Western critics to be the finest Japanese film of all time, and quite a few of them consider it to be [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_considered_the_best one of the finest films ever made]], period. In any case, it's been a highly influential film for decades.

* NoIndoorVoice: Kikuchiyo. Never is this more clear than when the 7 visit an old lady. Heihachi even asks him, "Why the hell are you always screaming?"

* RapePillageAndBurn: Samurai as a whole have done a lot of this. It's why the peasants have turned against them.

* AllWomenAreLustful: It's Shino that's trying to cajole Katsushiro into consummating their affair, rather than the reverse.

* ArentYouGoingToRavishMe: "Coward! Act like a samurai!" Shino clearly expects violent behavior from samurai, and her first attempt to seduce Katsushiro comes across like she's trying to convince him to rape her (it's also clear that she's nearly as afraid as she is eager). Katsushiro, who's behaving like a young man usually does with a girl he likes, is confused and put off.

** Gorobei only needs to take one look at the footprints outside the (seemingly) empty house to realize there are more people in the house, and being so empty means that someone is probably standing behind the door, and thus waiting to hit him. He instantly calls Kambei out on it.
** During the duel between Kyuzo and the unnamed ronin, Kambei mutters that it's obvious who would win, even though the duellists came to a draw before. It is another indication to the audience that Kambei is not just strategist who relies on sneaky tricks, and is actually a legitimate fighter.
* AwesomeMcCoolName: Gorobei lampshades this by explaining that despite his name, he isn't really that tough.
* BadassAdorable: Shichiroji is short, chubby, jovial and can skewer you like a fish with his spear.

* BerserkButton: Manzo is absolutely ''paranoid'' that his daughter, Shino, will be seduced by a samurai: he hacks off her hair, orders her to pretend to be a boy [[spoiler: and beats her when he discovers that she'd slept with Katsushiro]].
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Shichiroji is a friendly, pleasant guy, but he absolutely loses it when Kikuchiyo brings in stolen armour that Manzo had been hiding in his house, tackles Kikuchiyo and lashes out on the farmers who brought the armour by hurling a spear in their direction.

* TheBigGuy: Kyuzo and Kikuchiyo are different types: Kyuzo is the silent, highly skilled 'pro' and Kikuchiyo is the BoisterousBruiser.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: The village and its people are saved. But four of the samurai are dead, and Katsushirou probably cannot remain with Shino. Kambei, reviewing the scene of their victory, sadly remarks "In the end, we lost this battle too. I mean, the victory belongs to the peasants, not to us."]]

* BloodKnight: Kyuzo to test his warrior skills; [[spoiler:Kikuchiyo because he wants revenge.]]

* BlueBlood: The samurai, naturally. [[spoiler: Most notable with the rich but inexperienced Katsushiro, and least with the naturally humble Heihachi. And it doesn't apply to Kikuchiyo no matter how many fourteen-year-olds he impersonates.]]

* BreakTheCutie: Katsushiro starts off as a sheltered young man wanting to prove himself and seeking glory. The events of the movie introduce him to the consequences of a forbidden love affair and [[WarIsHell the horrors of battle]]. By the end he seems a much more conflicted, ambivalent young man.

* DefiledForever: Shino's father Manzo loses his mind after finding out she slept with Katsushiro.

* DontMakeMeDestroyYou: Kyuzou doesn't like killing people; he's also considered one of the finest swordsmen around. This is seen early in the movie when he is shown dueling with training swords; he begs his opponent not to challenge him with real swords, because the opponent would quite certainly die. [[spoiler:He does]].
* DoWithHimAsYouWill: Kikuchiyo and Kyuzou capture a bandit and immediately have to protect him from the (justifiably) murderous villagers. However, when they are approached by the oldest woman of the town, who lost every member of her family to bandits and has since been almost unwilling to continue living, they quietly step aside and allow her her vengeance.

* DressingAsTheEnemy: Kikuchiyo sees a [[IndyPloy quick opportunity]] to grab one of the muskets by quickly plundering a fallen bandit's gear, then walking right up to the musketeer and talking to him. The musketeer eventually realizes no bandit would carry a 5 1/2 foot nodachi. [[spoiler: It doesn't save him. And unfortunately, this gets Gorobei and Yohei killed in the ensuing attack.]]

* EnsignNewbie: Katsushirou.

** Katsushiro seems like a simple starry-eyed novice; his WealthyPhilanthropist moment comes when the peasants' rice (their intended pay to the samurai, and rations for the trip home) is stolen, and he donates enough money to cover their costs.
** Gorobei takes one look at a SchmuckBait doorway, and immediately deduces what's going on. Kambei is impressed.

** Shichiroji is an old war buddy of Kambei's. He's asked to join this nearly suicidal fight simply to fight alongside his friend once more, and he can't say yes fast enough.

* ForegoneConclusion: Kyuzo had no objection to duelling a random stranger with bamboo sticks. When his angry opponent insists on a rematch with real swords, he doesn't mince words.
--> '''Kyuzo:''' No. You'll die.

** Shichiroji has a little too much fun mocking Manzo after he learns that he disguised his daughter Shino as a boy.
* GallowsHumor: What Shichiroji tells Kambei after their battle is over.

* GoryDiscretionShot: The bandit whom Kyuzo and Kikuchiyo capture is savagely gored offscreen by the farmers while begging for his life. The only thing we see is the samurai walking away.

* HaventYouSeenXBefore: When Gorobei recruits Heihachi chopping wood:

** Katsushiro as well at the end of the battle when [[spoiler: Kyuzo is killed.]]

* HypocriticalHumor: At one point Katsushiro is lazily picking flowers in the mountains when he happens across a young woman dressed as a boy (Shino), also picking flowers. He angrily tells her that an able-bodied young man should not be picking flowers at a time like this... emphasizing his point by gesturing with the flower he's just picked.

** Manzo, worried about womanizing samurai coming to town, tries to cut his daughter Shino's hair and disguise her as a boy. [[spoiler:It doesn't work. Good news is, the just-as-innocent Katsushiro is the one who finds Shino and begins a humorously sweet courtship with her.]]

* JackOfAllStats: The samurai have their own specialities, but Kambei is pretty good in all those fields as well. He's a damn fine swordsman, but [[MasterSwordsman Kyuzo is the best fighter]]; he looks at morale from the big picture while [[DrillSergeantNasty Shichiroji]] is good at personally motivating the men; he's good with a bow, but [[TheArcher Gorobei is the designated archer]]; and while he's a great tactician and strategist, Kikuchiyo is the TheSocialExpert, and the [[TheHeart true conscience]] to remind the samurai what they're truly fighting for.

* KidSamurai: Katsushiro is the youngest of the seven and only beginning the samurai way.

** How Kyuzou is shown to be such a great swordsman. The actor was terrible at it, but clever editing made him look awesome.
** Kyuzo's actor also had no experience with riding horses. Creator/ToshiroMifune, on the other hand, was a legitimately skilled swordsman and horse rider. In the scene where the samurai ride to scout out the bandit camp, Kikuchiyo was intentionally staged as an idiot with his horse to disguise the other actor's lack of skill.

* MustNotDieAVirgin: [[spoiler:Katsushiro and Shino realize it's now or never.]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Kikuchiyo has this reaction when his decision to leave his post for a commando raid on the bandit camp ends up getting several people, including [[spoiler: Gorobei and Yohei]] killed in the ensuing counterattack.

* NotSoStoic: When it is revealed [[spoiler:the villagers scavenged weapons and armor off dead/dying samurai, the stoic Kyuzo is the first to say that he wants to avenge them by killing the villagers]].

* ARealManIsAKiller: Katsushiro spends most of the movie as Kambei's attendant and messenger and not allowed to participate in battle (even Kikuchiyo is allowed to fight). By the eve of the final battle, [[spoiler: he sleeps with Shiro]], and the next day, Kambei lets him fight and he kills his first man. [[BreakTheCutie Neither fills him with the sense of manhood that he had expected.]]

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: Kikuchiyo abandons his contingent of farmers, leading to Yohei's and Gorobei's deaths. He makes up for it during the FinalBattle by rescuing the village women and killing the bandits' leader, before dying of a gunshot wound inflicted by said leader.]]

* RuleOfThree: The doorway gag in the village. Specifically, the peasants invite various samurai to Kambei's inn room to 'discuss' the job, and Katsushiro's hiding just inside the door ready to hit them with a stick (to test their skills). The first applicant is so fast that he actually dodges the blow and disarms Katsushiro... but he isn't willing to stay. The second (Gorobei) stops in front of the doorway, looks through at Kambei, and says with a smile, "Please! No pranks." The third applicant is a drunk Kikuchiyo, who gets whacked.

* SatelliteCharacter: Out of all the Samurai, Shichiroji gets the least to do.

** The warrior sparring with Kyuzo, when Kyuzo is first introduced.

* SlowMotionFall: A pioneering example is used when Kyuzo kills his opponent in a duel.
* StarCrossedLovers: Either [[spoiler:Katsushiro and Shino]] or [[spoiler:Katsushiro and Kyūzō]], depending on your interpretation. Also possible is [[LoveTriangle all three]].

* TheTeamWannabe: Katsushiro and Kikuchiyo approach this trope from opposite directions; the former is a child that wants to be a samurai while the latter [[spoiler: is an adult peasant that pretends to be a samurai.]]

* ThanksForTheMammaries: Played for drama. Katsushiro realizes that Shino is a girl when he accidentally feels her breast.

* TheseHandsHaveKilled: Yohei is in shock after spearing a bandit. Katsushiro has the same reaction after running another through.

* UptownGirl: Gender-inverted: Katsushiro and Shino probably can't be together because she is a peasant.

** Gorobei has a bow.
** Shichiroji uses a spear.

* YouAreAlreadyDead: The guy who challenged Kyuzo to a duel first with sticks, then with swords. [[spoiler:Kikuchiyo's death could also qualify]].

* FluffyTheTerrible: Kikuchiyo is named after the fake papers he has to "prove" he's of noble birth. Unbeknown to him and to the amusement of the others, Kikuchiyo is the name of a little girl. He still kicks lots of ass.