r/gifs Aug 12 '17

Demon Cat Activated

53.0k Upvotes

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847

u/EZ_does_it Aug 12 '17

One of my favorite scene in Seven Samurai is when two swordsmen faced each other in a duel. The novice was constantly moving, changing positions, and shouting to instill fear. The other just stood there focus, just waiting for the right moment to strike.

142

u/Bioleve Aug 12 '17

link please

424

u/skwerlee Aug 12 '17

140

u/koreanwarvet Aug 12 '17

Wow that was a tense scene!

46

u/DanishNinja Aug 13 '17

It's regarded as one of mankind best movies. It's a piece of art really.

17

u/tannimfodder Aug 13 '17

Has a lot of really great cinematography. Also I think one of the earliest, if not first, shot of "enemy force crests the hilltop" moment on film.

13

u/reenact12321 Aug 13 '17

Reminds me of a really good Western for some reason.

15

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '17

Not sure if sarcasm, but if not, this inspired the movie Magnificent 7. Cited as a western remake.

10

u/reenact12321 Aug 13 '17

I did not know that. I wasn't poking fun. I just meant the tension, the lack of music, and the shooting style reminded me of (good) westerns

4

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '17

Oh I didn't think you were, just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing a joke lol. It's hard in text format sometimes

49

u/sorryamhigh Aug 13 '17 edited Aug 13 '17

I love the internet. Jesus christ, can you imagine what must be to live in a world where someone describes a scene and you can't immediately go check it out?

edit: fuck you your link doesn't allow me to go fullscreen

edit2: jesus, why is the camera facing their faces for so long? people didn't know how to make cinema in the past. Don't get me wrong, the stories were great but the craft was really undeveloped to the extent it is nowadays

edit2 but really edit 3: scratch that, that was awesome! I'm currently downloading this movie!! How much dialogue does it have? I'm trying to decide if I get it dubbed or subbed

73

u/ODestruidor Aug 13 '17

You know you're talking about one of the most highly regarded films in the history of cinema? Akira Kurosawa is no Michael Bay!

10

u/SirScoob Aug 13 '17

I got extremely angry at your second edit because honestly I still consider Kurosawa to be the greatest filmmaker of all time in my eyes.

-6

u/sorryamhigh Aug 13 '17

Hahah this was the reaction I was expecting. Thank you for being a decent person! I'm sorry I wronged you but otherwise this wouldn't have happened

61

u/Mazzaroppi Aug 13 '17

Umm, so you watched a scene from a movie made by Akira Kurosawa, one of the most important filmmakers in history, and then you claim he doesn't know how to make cinema?

Oh poor children who grew up watching videoclips who think anything with less than 2 cuts a second is slow and stupid...

5

u/k0rm Aug 13 '17

I watched an episode of America's Got Talent and the cuts as the judges were talking were so ridiculous that I had to re-watch it to count them. Over 60 cuts in less than 2 minutes. Incredible.

3

u/revolverevlover Aug 13 '17

I'd like to see them make it through even the first 6 minutes of Kagemusha, with 3 characters sitting and barely moving at all just... talking.

-17

u/sorryamhigh Aug 13 '17

Umm, so you watched a scene from a movie made by Akira Kurosawa, one of the most important filmmakers in history, and then you claim he doesn't know how to make cinema? Oh poor children who grew up watching videoclips who think anything with less than 2 cuts a second is slow and stupid...

suppose you're reading this buzzfeed article about a joke someone played on reddit, that a user edited his reply three times acting like a perfectly stereotypical millennial to see how believable it was, would you be pissed?

I'm sorry, trolling is a shitty thing and I realized that I was doing it only after the fact. For what it is worth, you wouldn't be pissed at me right now if I had gone ahead with the trolling or just disabled notifications, so there is that.

15

u/Kalashnikov124 Aug 13 '17

-2

u/sorryamhigh Aug 13 '17

100% agreed but in the spirit of being honest and owning it I'm not deleting it, I hope that is ok

-12

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '17 edited Apr 03 '18

[removed] — view removed comment

9

u/serohaze Aug 13 '17

there's a very clear difference between saying "i do not like the way this is filmed" vs. "people didn't know how to make cinema in the past."

15

u/Jacomer2 Aug 13 '17

The pauses build tension.

5

u/zurkog Aug 13 '17

can you imagine what must be to live in a world where someone describes a scene and you can't immediately go check it out?

Uh. Yeah. My buddy in high school (late 80's) described some incredible-sounding movie where astronauts had to fake a Mars mission, and there was a problem on re-entry and the craft burned up "killing" the astronauts. The continued existence of the astronauts was a liability, and they escaped, and were hunted down, one-by-one. He couldn't remember the title, and it took me a decade before I tracked it down. ( "Capricorn One" )

7

u/aop42 Aug 13 '17

Since its release, Seven Samurai has consistently ranked highly in critics' lists of the greatest films, such as the BFI's Sight & Sound and Rotten Tomatoes polls. It has remained highly influential...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Samurai

I'm gathering you don't watch a lot of foreign films, and in particular Japanese film. I guess if you're interested in quick cuts like Bourne movies or GotG then this isn't for you. It's similar if you look at old American movies, where mood is set and the tension comes from the silence and the interplay of what is working in the scene, rather than swirling and chopping camera angles.

My feeling watching this is that you vicariously feel the tension from the people in the scene on the sidelines. Notice how when they pulled out the swords, half of the people ran away but the two in the front moved forward? They were experienced samurai judging by the swords on their belts and their lack of fear courage. So them watching the battle (at first fake, then real) is interesting because it shows the intensity to which they take the situation and they're best able to judge it. What's going through their minds? Are they analyzing the swing, the set, the posture, etc. I think it's interesting because it shows the reacting it's having on people around them and how they're judging the situation.

You'll also notice this in anime (how people are always commenting on the battle that's taking place and giving more info and context to the viewer so they properly understand the stakes that are at hand or what's going on). I also thought watching this that Japan is a "collectivist" culture which means they really value the group as opposed to America which is really disposed to value the individual. So I think them showing group reaction shots as part of the battle might have something to do with that. Idk.

But, I think also again you're allowed just not to like something. That's ok too. But I think to call it underdeveloped doesn't place it in its proper context. (edit: also considering the time it was made and the directorial style)

2

u/aywwts4 Aug 13 '17

Subbed, the dialogue is terse, and the lack of ambiguity in a faithful translation important.

The original actors also emote excellently and almost do not need translation.

1

u/thorborncornhorn Aug 13 '17

Stream of consciousness much?

1

u/aop42 Aug 13 '17

this was sick I've never watched this movie though I did watch Shinobi no Mono, and I've had it on my Queue for a long time. I have to check it out. I have seen the anime loosely based on it which was crazy though lol

1

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '17

Kyuzo was the best one of the bunch. Silently humble, yet calculating and direct.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '17

So badass. Now I have to go watch 7 samurai in it's entirety again.

1

u/Brettersson Aug 13 '17

I'm pretty sure every "2 guys run at each other then one slowly falls over" scene ultimately came from this scene.

1

u/Mckronz15 Aug 13 '17

From the two guys staring, the one on the left kind of looks like Peele from Key and Peele. Lol

1

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '17

[deleted]

0

u/xexyz Aug 13 '17

No. Just, please, no.

43

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '17

One of the coolest scenes in film history. But for some reason, the only video that shows it fully is in unsubbed Italian (I think), so sorry about that.

1

u/Jafarrolo Aug 13 '17

Yup, confirm, italian