I see why my teacher said Akira Karasowa was one of the greatest directors ever, because the direction in this film was absolutely brilliant and well thought out. For example, there was a scene in this film when villagers were in the marketplace trying to look for the village thief, as the characters' eyes moved the camera moved in the same pace as their eyes, this method was used again when Kambei the master samurai and the youngest samurai Katsushiro went to go see the master swordsman fight in a fair-trial-combat, and the same thing happened the camera followed the characters' eyes. I'll have to say the shots in this film were also unique, and they came in different varieties, there was one I really liked because I have never seen any shot like that in any movie or film I have ever seen. There were three different things going on in one shot, on one side of the room there was the guy with the over-top facial expression crying his eyes out, at the opposite side of him there as an old guy playing his wooden banjo softly, and on the other side of the room, were the two look alike cavemen arguing, joking, laughing, and playing a board game.
There was also a rule of thirds scene in this film with the oldest farmer as the focus point, the camera's focus accentuated the wrinkles and the toothless mouth of the farmer to make the viewers realize how old this farmer really was, as that was going on there were two couples in the background arguing back and forth with each other. The only seen in this film that I really saw a character alone, had to be the point of view shot where the youngest samurai Katsushiro lays in the middle of a flowers bed and looks up to the trees, the scene was subtle as the wind blew the leaves of the trees back and forth, making them sway in the sky, it was the first time you realized as viewer what the character was feeling and the emotions going moving with him.
This film was really unique because of the things Karasowa added to it, like in one scene he added his own wind, the wood behind the crying farmer was made especially for that scene to show repetition, because of the markings in the wood, compositions of three's was shown in a shot when some people walked through frames. The shots of the villagers' backside showing earlier in the film was to emphasize the pain, embarrassment, poverty, shame, and heartache they were going through. There was a scene in this film that gave the viewer a feeling of isolation, when this man was sitting alone all by himself, and the other villagers' backs were turned away from him.
As a viewer character development was incredibly noticeable, but there were two characters that I thought changed or developed as the plot moved along, and it had to be the young samurai Katsushiro, and kikuchiyo. Katsushiro Katsushiro was the youngest samurai in the bunch, he was respectful, shy, compassionate, humble, and willing to learn at the beginning of the film, he didn't have enough courage to prove or stand up for himself, but towards the end of the movie he builds on strength, courage, and self esteem, the scene of Katsushiro's total transformation had to be when he killed an enemy then cried afterwards. I thought Kikuchiyo's transformation as a character was very major and important in this film, because in the beginning he was self absorbed, a joker, disrespectful, and way too boisterous, he even put other samurais' lives in danger by posing as the enemy and killing some enemies in order to prove he was the best to other samurais. But as the plot and film moves along he cares about others and he puts them in consideration, there was one scene where I actually saw kikuchiyo cry sadly and passionately about the loss of a child's parents, because he related to him, Kikuchiyo's death had to be the most memorable death in the film he died as a warrior, after getting shot by an enemy, he got up and still pierced the heart of the enemy that shot him.
This film was long but awesome, this film had composition, great shots, beautiful scenes, fantastic camera direction, great cast of characters, and one of the greatest film director composed all these things into one, and that's Akira Karasowa.
There was also a rule of thirds scene in this film with the oldest farmer as the focus point, the camera's focus accentuated the wrinkles and the toothless mouth of the farmer to make the viewers realize how old this farmer really was, as that was going on there were two couples in the background arguing back and forth with each other. The only seen in this film that I really saw a character alone, had to be the point of view shot where the youngest samurai Katsushiro lays in the middle of a flowers bed and looks up to the trees, the scene was subtle as the wind blew the leaves of the trees back and forth, making them sway in the sky, it was the first time you realized as viewer what the character was feeling and the emotions going moving with him.
This film was really unique because of the things Karasowa added to it, like in one scene he added his own wind, the wood behind the crying farmer was made especially for that scene to show repetition, because of the markings in the wood, compositions of three's was shown in a shot when some people walked through frames. The shots of the villagers' backside showing earlier in the film was to emphasize the pain, embarrassment, poverty, shame, and heartache they were going through. There was a scene in this film that gave the viewer a feeling of isolation, when this man was sitting alone all by himself, and the other villagers' backs were turned away from him.
As a viewer character development was incredibly noticeable, but there were two characters that I thought changed or developed as the plot moved along, and it had to be the young samurai Katsushiro, and kikuchiyo. Katsushiro Katsushiro was the youngest samurai in the bunch, he was respectful, shy, compassionate, humble, and willing to learn at the beginning of the film, he didn't have enough courage to prove or stand up for himself, but towards the end of the movie he builds on strength, courage, and self esteem, the scene of Katsushiro's total transformation had to be when he killed an enemy then cried afterwards. I thought Kikuchiyo's transformation as a character was very major and important in this film, because in the beginning he was self absorbed, a joker, disrespectful, and way too boisterous, he even put other samurais' lives in danger by posing as the enemy and killing some enemies in order to prove he was the best to other samurais. But as the plot and film moves along he cares about others and he puts them in consideration, there was one scene where I actually saw kikuchiyo cry sadly and passionately about the loss of a child's parents, because he related to him, Kikuchiyo's death had to be the most memorable death in the film he died as a warrior, after getting shot by an enemy, he got up and still pierced the heart of the enemy that shot him.
This film was long but awesome, this film had composition, great shots, beautiful scenes, fantastic camera direction, great cast of characters, and one of the greatest film director composed all these things into one, and that's Akira Karasowa.
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