Seven Samurai and lessons from Sun Tzu's 'Art of War' review and analysis

Seven Samurai is a 1954 Japanese Samurai epic co-written by Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni, and directed by Akira Kurosawa. 

The film takes place during the Sengoku Period of Japanese history and follows 7 masterless samurai--or ronin as they are called--who are hired for the price of 3 meals a day by farmers to defend their harvest from bandits. The film stars Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Yoshio Inaba, Daisuke Katō, Seiji Miyaguchi, Minoru Chiaki, and Isao Kimura. At 207 minutes, Seven Samurai is Akira Kurosawa’s longest and arguably best film, and serves as the template for team films such as The Magnificent Seven and Marvel’s Avengers. The film was nominated for 2 Academy Awards in 1957 for Best Art Design and Best Costume Design. Major critics such as Roger Ebert and polls such as Sight and Sound rank Seven Samurai among the greatest films ever made. In this presentation, I will cover the film’s plot, its themes, and offer my personal thoughts at the end.

Plot

Seven Samurai is set in Japan in the early 16th century, a period of uncertainty plagued by debt, high taxes, civil wars, and now bandits, a group of which on a high hill look down upon a farming village lying prone, plump, juicy, and almost ripe. But not yet, not until the harvest, only then will they return to steal the hard-earned fruit of the farmers' labor.

Down in the village, the farmers are fearful and full of despair. There are disagreements about whether they should avoid bloodshed and surrender their crops to the bandits or whether they should fashion their bamboo poles into spears and fight the bandits. The farmers go to see the village elder who tells them to fight. Of all the villages looted and burned, those that survived had 1 thing in common: samurai. But the farmers have no money to pay for proud samurai to which the elder tells them to hire hungry samurai who will work for 3 meals a day. Even a bear, the elder tells them, will come out of the forest when he gets hungry.

Four farmers, Rikichi, Yohei, Manzo, and Mosuke go to the nearest town to find four samurai. But after 10 days and no samurai, things seem hopeless until the 4 farmers come upon a crowd surrounding a priest and a samurai. The samurai takes out a knife and cuts off his topknot. The samurai then hands a sharp razor to the priest who uses the razor to shave the hair off the samurai’s head. Kimbei, the samurai, then puts on the tattered robe of a priest. He then asks the villagers for 2 rice balls to go inside of a barn to rescue a child from a thief. Farmers surround the barn and all of them have weapons; but they are afraid. The front door is open and Kimbei offers the thief a rice ball in exchange for the child. The thief agrees. Kimbei tosses a rice ball to the thief and rushes in behind it. Moments later, the thief stumbles out of the barn, falls to the ground, and dies. Kimbei comes out of the barn with the boy and drops his bloodstained sword. Kimbei walks away; no one thanks him. A young samurai named Katsushiro bows to Kimbei asking to be his disciple. The farmers hire their 1st Samurai.

Kimbei recruits 6 more samurai to work for 3 meals a day and they return to the village. Kimbei looks around in horror; the village is wide open and easily accessible from every direction. He and his fellow samurai get to work and over time the village and farmers become stronger, fortified walls are erected, bridges are torn down, and crops are gathered. The harvest passes and soon the fear of the bandits is replaced by dancing, forgetfulness, and ingratitude. With the reaping all done, the farmers think that the bandits have gone away. But Kimbei knows that peace is the most dangerous season of all.

Themes

Honor is at the center of Seven Samurai. At the beginning of this film, a thief holds a child hostage inside of a barn surrounded by a crowd of armed villagers who feel helpless. A samurai named Kimbei cuts off his topknot, the very feature that identifies him as a samurai; he then hands a sharp razor to a priest to shave off his hair. Kimbei then dresses himself in the robe of a monk and asks for 2 rice balls to go into the barn and save the child.

Proverbs 18:12,
“Humility comes before honor.”

Kimbei tosses the rice balls to the thief and rushes into the barn by himself. Moments later, the thief stumbles out of the barn and falls to the ground, dead. How was Kimbei able to do what the crowd of people outside the shack couldn’t do? 1) he cut off his topknot to hide the fact that he was a samurai; 2) he assumes the non-threatening disguise of a priest to gain the thief’s trust; 3) he has a priest to cut off all of his hair with a razor, a gesture incorporating 2 virtues: sacrifice and humility; 4) he then tosses the rice balls the villagers gave him to the thief when the villagers thought that the rice balls were for him; and finally, Kimbei rushes into the barn, subdues the thief, and saves the child--all by himself--a feat of courage that so impresses a young samurai named Katsushiro to ask to be his disciple.

Machiavelli’s ‘The Prince.’ What A Prince Must Do To Be Esteemed:
“Nothing wins so much esteem for a prince as embarking on great enterprises and giving rare proofs of his ability.”

Honor seeks no reward but is, within itself, a reward. A farmer named Rikichi volunteers to go into the bandits' camp and steal their guns. Rikichi is eager to win honor to himself but he is also inexperienced and stands a good chance at failing. Kyuzo--a samurai of proven abilities--snatches this opportunity away from Rikichi and goes solo into the bandit’s camp, steals one of their guns, and gets himself 2 kills in the process. Kyuzo’s courage and skill--as Kimbei’s courage and skill in rescuing the child from the thief--wins praise and admiration, especially from Katsushiro.

Kikuchyo is jealous of Katsushiro’s admiration for Kyuzo and evens the score by sneaking into the bandits’ camp and stealing himself a gun, too. But instead of winning merit, Kimbei reprimands him. Kikuchyo’s deed could have costed them a valuable samurai and the deed was also self serving and not for the greater good of the whole.

Proverbs 25:27,
“For men to search their own glory is not glory.”

Also,

Art of War Chapter 8. Variation in Tactics:
“In war, the general receives his commands from the sovereign, collects his army and concentrates his forces.”

The sovereign is the head. Tactical decisions should be rational. Also, Kikuchyo’s motivation for going into the bandit’s camp is to take glory from another samurai, as he did by dancing over the dead thief that Kimbei killed; or like the villagers stealing the armor off of slain samurai; or like old man Yohei trying on samurai armor that is too big for him. But this act on Kikuchyo’s part only attests to the high value of honor and the price the samurai are willing to pay for it.

The samurai help the farmers to discover honor within themselves. Kikuchyo teaches the farmers how to fight with swords and form battle units; Heihachi provokes Rikichi to work harder in the fields by questioning his manhood. At the beginning of the film, the villagers felt afraid and helpless even though they outnumbered their enemies--the thief that held the child at knife point and the bandits. Back then, every option was on the table, from simply walking away from their harvest and letting the bandits take it to even committing suicide. In fact, the farmers had plenty of rice, salt, beans, and saki stored away but they were poor because they had no honor, they planted and sowed but had no courage to defend what was theirs.

Sowing and reaping

Matt. 13:24--29,
“Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 28He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”

The weeds are not just the bandits that appear at harvest but other thieves such as laziness, disunity, and forgetfulness. There are weeds in the human spirit that come up in seasons of trouble as well as seasons of peace and prosperity.

Laziness

To prepare for the bandits’ return, Kimbei and Gorobei inspect the village to secure all the weak points. The weakest point of the perimeter is the eastern border. Here, they find Kikuchyo stretched out, his head and feet propped up, snoring away, with his sword sticking out of a pile of logs. Kimbei takes Kikuchyo’s sword and, from a hiding spot, tosses a stone in the water to wake Kikuchyo up. Kimbei comes out of hiding and gives Kikuchyo his sword and a warning: if he had been the enemy, Kikuchyo would have been dead.

Matthew 24:43,
“But know this, that if the householder had known in what watch the thief comes, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken into.”
Also,
Art of War Chapter 8. Variation of Tactics:
“The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable.”

Disunity

Kimbei and Gorobei walk the perimeter of the village and discover another weakness; three isolated homes outside the village.

Art Of War Chapter 8. Variation in Tactics:
“In country where high roads intersect, join hands with your allies. Do not linger in dangerously isolated positions.”

Art Of War Chapter 1. Laying Plans:
“If his forces are united, separate them.”

Once the bandits come for the harvest, whoever lived in those three homes would be isolated. Kimbei lays down the rules: all work shall be done in formation; harvesting will be done together; no one shall work by himself; everyone will camp together, unit by unit; nobody shall do anything by himself. Kimbei even reprimands a fellow samurai--Kikuchyo--for leaving the village to go into the enemy camp by himself. Despite the valuable intel he acquired, Kikuchyo’s motive for going into the bandits’ camp was selfish. And as for the homes outside the village on the other side of the marshes, Kimbei orders them to be evacuated. Twenty homes in the village can’t be risked for the 3 homes outside the village.

Matthew 5:30,
"If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.”

Kikuchyo, as pointed out earlier, violates Kimbei’s order by going into the bandit’s camp by himself. But even so, Kikuchyo acquires valuable intelligence on the enemy’s condition. Attrition through a series of unsuccessful attacks has taken its toll on the bandits who are not only worn out from the clashes with the samurais and villagers but also hungry. The bandits’ predicament comes from violating 2 rules from the Art of War:

Chapter 6. Weak Points and Strong:
“You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places which are undefended.”

Also,

Chapter 3. Attack By Stratagem:
“The rule is not to besiege walled cities if it can possibly be avoided. The preparation of mantlets, movable shelters, and various implements of war, will take up three whole months; and the piling up of mounds over against the walls will take three months more.
The general, unable to control his irritation, will launch his men to the assault like swarming ants, with the result that one-third of his men are slain, while the town still remains untaken. Such are the disastrous effects of a siege.”

Forgetfulness

Sun Tzu realized that moods are like seasons and change over time. At the very beginning of the film, the fear of the bandits’ attack intensifies leading up to harvest; however, after the villagers gather their harvest with no trouble, the fear dissipates. Gorobei and Kimbei take in a scene of villagers standing around laughing and acting a fool without a care in the world, more at ease and confident in the peace following the bandits’ threat to take their harvest. An experienced samurai, Gorobei observes the villagers’ general attitude with disapproval. He and Kimbei knows that peaceful conditions are the most dangerous times of all.

Art of War Chapter 7. Maneuvering:
“Now a soldier's spirit is keenest in the morning; by noonday it has begun to flag; and in the evening, his mind is bent only on returning to camp.”

Art of War Chapter 1. Laying Plans:
“When we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away.”

The delay in the bandits’ attack makes the villagers confident, forgetful, and ungrateful.

Finding samurai to fight and put their lives on the line for only 3 meals a day is no easy task for the villagers. An offended samurai draws his sword on Rikichi for even asking. Finding not one but seven samurai to fight and put their lives on the line for 3 meals a day is miraculous and at first the villagers can’t believe their luck. Over the course of time, the villagers become confident, forgetful, and ungrateful: they tolerate the samurai as long as they are threatened by the bandits. But as soon as the bandits are all dead, the villagers forget all about the samurais that helped them. Even Shino gives Katsushiro the cold shoulder after the bandits are dead and the crops are harvested.

Machiavelli. The Prince. Concerning Cruelty: Whether It Is Better To Be Loved Than to Be Feared, Or The Reverse:
“For this can be said about the generality of men: that they are ungrateful, fickle, dissembling, anxious to flee danger, and covetous of gain. So long as you promote their advantage, they are all yours.”

Wrap

Akira Kurosawa had originally planned to make the film about 6 samurai but decided to add a 7th samurai, Kikuchyo, whose eccentric personality offsets the personalities of the other 6 samurai who are all serious. Toshiro Mifune--who plays Kikuchyo--was to play Kyuzo before Kurosawa made him the 7th samurai. Seeing Mifune as a wild-man in this role brings to mind his role as Musashi Miyamoto in Hiroshi Inagaki’s Samurai trilogy. Mifune’s role in Seven Samurai also brings to mind his role as the bandit, Tajōmaru, in Kurosawa’s 1950 film Rashomon. Of all Kurosawa’s films, Seven Samurai is among my favorites for a number of reasons starting with the cinematography by longtime collaborator Asakazu Naka. Each scene is full of so much information and wisdom; nothing the camera sees is wasted. Poetry is in every shot. The music by Fumio Hayasaka is also great and matches the scenes well.

It doesn’t take long watching Seven Samurai to get the sense that Kurosawa’s film is universal and applies to many aspects of life. The film runs almost 31/2 hours but it feels an hour shorter.

Seven Samurai is an old film but you can see its influence on many of today’s films like Star Wars, The Magnificent Seven, and The Avengers. This masterpiece is why I consider Kurosawa 1 of the best directors ever.

The passion of Raging Bull: a review and analysis of the film!

Raging Bull is a 1980 film by Director Martin Scorsese that is widely regarded as 1 of the greatest ever made. 

Actor Robert DeNiro stars as middleweight boxing champion Jake LaMotta whose opponents in the ring pale next to his opponents within himself. The film is produced by Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff both of whom also produced Sylvester Stallone's breakout film 'Rocky' 3 years earlier. The script was written by Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin, the cinematography is by Michael Chapman, the editing is by Thelma Schoonmaker and is based on Jake LaMotta’s 1970 memoir ‘Raging Bull: My Story.' The film stars Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, and Cathy Moriarty. Raging Bull was nominated for 8 Academy Awards and won 2 for Best Actor (Robert DeNiro) and Editing (Thelma Schoonmaker), respectively. Here, I will break down the film's themes and symbolism and offer my personal thoughts at the end. Thanks.

Themes

In the opening credits, Jake LaMotta shadowboxes in a boxing ring enveloped in smoke. This scene foreshadows the boxer’s greatest opponent--himself. The boxing ring is an altar where he atones for his sins. The boxing ring is also an outlet for his destructive passions. His nickname, “Raging Bull,” implies a creature that is controlled by the impulses of its flesh. The passion that propels him to the top of the middleweight boxing division is the same passion that destroys the relationships in his personal life.

Clip 4:
The story opens in the dressing room of a nightclub where Jake LaMotta--retired and fat--is preparing to do a stand-up comedy routine. He is sitting in front of a mirror with his head down, not looking at himself, reciting these lines: “and though I’m no Olivier and before Sugar Ray would say: “the thing ain’t the ring, it’s the play” so give me a stage, where this bull here can rage, and though I can fight, I’d much rather recite, ‘That’s Entertainment!” At this stage of his life, Jake is struggling to adjust to retirement as his personal life is disintegrating as rapidly as his once chiseled but now pudgy physique. In the Biblical context, Jake is coming out of the Old Testament where God requires burnt sacrifices of animals to atone for sin. When Jake boxed, the ring was the altar; he and his opponents were the meat. Retirement has taken away the old way of sacrificing and all the people he can blame his failures on: his wife and brother have left him; no crooked boxing politics to point the finger at anymore--it’s just him. He has to accept responsibility for his actions and yet he can’t even face himself in the mirror.

Jake’s character arc is approaching the turning point. Without the boxing ring as an outlet, his appetites are raging out of control and his sins and body are swelling up to match them.

Rage

The film backtracks to an earlier time in Jake’s life. His marriage is on the ropes because his wife suspects him of cheating. The explosive rage that makes him a great boxer is on display here as he and his wife get into a fight over a steak. Right off the bat we get to see 2 aspects of Jake’s personality, rage and lack of discipline. This scene also introduces Jake’s little brother Joey, played by Joe Pesci, and Frank Vincent who plays the role of Salvy Batts, a member of the mafia.

Clip 7: Lust
Joey introduces Jake, who is still married, to a 15 year old girl named Vickie. Jake saw her in a nightclub with a mafia figure and became obsessed with her. Joey knew her and introduces them in this scene, which takes place at a public swimming pool. The black and white shirt Jake has on represents the conflict he has within himself in contrast to Vickie who wears all white. Also, the chain-link fence enclosing the public pool and separating Jake from Vickie symbolizes the forbidden nature of their relationship. In keeping with the Holy Bible, the chain-link fence is in the pattern of crosses, an important Christian symbol.

Clip 8:
This scene is a montage of Jake’s fights and him marrying Vickie shot to look like a home movie. You notice the juxtaposition of the scenes of his marriage to Vickie, which are filmed in color and the boxing scenes which are filmed in black and white. Jake wants to be happy, but there is restlessness in his soul, passions that he can’t control that will eventually overlap into his life outside the ring. These brief clips are the only instances in the film that Jake looks truly happy.

Clip 10: Gluttony
In between fights Jake picks up a lot of weight and his wife Vickie is unhappy. Also, we see the politics of boxing, that despite Jake’s success he is not guaranteed a shot. Joey persuades Jake to throw an upcoming fight with a weaker opponent named Billy Fox. Later, at a nightclub, Jake and his friends are having drinks and Jake is boasting about his upcoming bout with Middleweight Champ Tony Janiro. Vickie throws in her 2 cents, saying that she thinks that Janiro is good-looking. Jake is consumed with jealousy and now even more determined to release his destructive passions on Janiro. At this point in the film and Jake’s character arc, boxing gives him a designated place to release his rage. In this case, boxing also gives Jake a safe way to release other energies like jealousy. Ultimately, jealousy is what brings his marriage to an end.

Once again, we have Jake and Sugar Ray in the 3rd of their 4 fights. This is an interesting scene because at this point in the film, Jake is battling on several fronts in his life and career. He knows that he has to win every fight to even have the smallest chance of fighting for the title, which the mafia controls. And his storybook marriage to Vickie is falling apart. This fight reflects Jake’s state of mind. His life has become surreal. The rope covering his eyes represents blindness and his namesake, Raging Bull--a creature controlled by its instincts:

Exodus 29:36,
“Sacrifice a bull each day as a sin offering to make atonement. Purify the altar by making atonement for it, and anoint it to consecrate it.”

Clip 14:
Jake throws a fight to get a shot at the title at the urging of Joey whose theory was that if the mob saw that Jake was beatable that they would give him a shot at the champ. Jake is a man with a great deal of pride and losing to a lesser fighter is a bitter pill. This fight is a metaphor of his spiritual transformation later in the film after he comes out of prison and humbles himself to fix his relationship with his brother Joey.

Proverbs 18:12,
“Humilty goes before honor.”

Clip 16: Jealousy
Shortly after winning the title, Jake confronts his brother about Vickie. Jake has heard through the grapevine that Joey had a fight with Salvy concerning Vickie but Joey refuses to tell Jake anything. At this point, Jake doesn’t trust anybody, not even his brother. Jealousy has distorted Jake’s sense of reality as he continues to act on blind instinct.

Clip 17:
Jake is out of control. He confronts Vickie about her having an affair with Joey. Vickie affirms his suspicions and makes a facetious comment about the size of Joey’s manhood. Jake takes her seriously and goes over to his brother’s house and beats him up. The guilt and self-hate he feels afterwards is enormous and for this sin he, once again, offers himself up as a sacrifice to arch nemesis Sugar Ray Robinson. But unlike his previous fights, he now has to face Sugar alone.

Clip 18: Atonement
Sugar Ray beats Jake but doesn’t knock Jake out. This is a good sign. In this fight, Sugar Ray is God’s punishment for all of Jake’s sins. God, as Sugar Ray, beats Jake severely and yet with mercy as he is still able to stand at the end.

Hebrews 12:6,
“For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”

Ecclesiastes 9:4,
“For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.”

Clip 19:
Jake is now retired and owns a nightclub where he flirts with the female customers. This clip comes just before a short innocuous encounter with a couple of young ladies. They are fans of his and to confirm that they are not underage, they each give him a big girl kiss on the mouth.

On a side note, Scorsese stopped shooting for several months to allow DeNiro to pack on 65 pounds for the 2nd half of the film. DeNiro went from 150lbs to almost 215lbs.

Clip 20: Born again
Without boxing as both a way to maintain his weight and a way to cover his sins, Jake’s life spirals out of control and he is charged with serving alcohol to a 14 year old girl in his nightclub. Innocence in the mind is synonymous with youth and in the context of redemption, this girl becomes the key that opens the door for Jake to redeem himself.

Jake is arrested and put in a jail that looks like a tomb; here, the old Jake dies and he confronts himself and his demons for the 1st time. Throughout the Old Testament of the Bible, God requires animal sacrifices for atonement. In the book of Genesis, God kills an animal and uses its skin to cover up Adam’s shame; in the book of Genesis, God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son.

But in the new testament, God’s requirement for atonement changes; instead of animal sacrifice He requires repentance.

Romans 12:1,
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”

No more burnt sacrifices; no more bulls, lambs, or goats. God requires a living sacrifice, not a dead one. Jake comes out of prison and this symbolic baptism and purification reborn. In the Biblical context, he now realizes that he must repent and seek forgiveness from those he has hurt and he must pay for this forgiveness with tears and not blood. His eyes are open and he can see that his true enemy is, and has always been, himself.

Isaiah 1: 11-16,
“I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
    or of lambs, or of goats.
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
    remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,”

Jake cries and begs Joeys forgiveness. This scene marks the final stage in Jake’s character arc, going from a man living on pure appetite and blind instinct (like his namesake, Raging Bull) to a man broken and reconciled with both God and his humanity; from a man used to paying for sinning with his flesh and the flesh of his opponents in the boxing ring to a man who atones with tears. Jake’s pride was his downfall; his humility is his redemption.

Isaiah 40:4,
“Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low.”

Also in the background in this scene, there is a cross which is, in the Bible, the sign of forgiveness.

Clip 21: “Now I see!”

This is the final scene, Jake is full circle from where he began in the 1st scene where he’s in the dressing room rehearsing his lines. In that scene, he is not looking at himself in the mirror but in this scene he is looking at himself in the mirror, a sign that he now accepts responsibility for his actions. Here, he reads ex-boxer Terry Malloy’s famous lines from Elia Kazan’s film On The Waterfront: “Remember that night in the Garden you came down to my dressing room and you said, "Kid, this ain't your night. We're going for the price on Wilson." You remember that? "This ain't your night"! My night! I coulda taken Wilson apart! So what happens? He gets the title shot outdoors on the ballpark and what do I get? A one-way ticket to Palooka-ville! You was my brother, Charley, you shoulda looked out for me a little bit. You shoulda taken care of me just a little bit so I wouldn't have to take them dives for the short-end money. You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it. It was you, Charley.” After reciting these lines, Jake, dressed in a tuxedo, shadowboxes and leaves the dressing room. Charley, in this monologue, is Jake himself; he has finally accepted responsibility for the mistakes he made in his life.

The film ends with the epigraph from the book of John 9:24-25,

 The Jewish leaders[o] summoned the man who had been blind a second time and told him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.”
He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

Wrap

Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff, the film’s producers, were still riding the success of Rocky, which they’d produced 3 years earlier and the studio wanted another boxing movie even though Raging Bull, in contrast, was dark and its protagonist an antihero

Raging Bull is 1 of the most gorgeous black and white film’s I’ve ever seen and if I had to name my top 3 all-time black and white films, my pick would be this film, Raging Bull, Citizen Kane, and Double Indemnity. There are so many great black and white films but I couldn’t see a top 3 without these three films and the influence they have had on the medium. But Raging Bull is remarkable for a lot of reasons, the 1st being that black and white was not a stylistic choice but a practical choice after director Michael Powell noticed that the color of the boxing gloves in the film didn’t match the original color of the gloves worn by boxers of that era, which were brownish-red in color. Turned out that black and white was not only more aesthetically striking but also a motif reinforcing Jake LaMotta’s inner conflict.

Another thing I find remarkable about Raging Bull is that it came out only 3 years after Rocky which featured a clear-cut hero and underdog whereas the protagonist of Raging Bull is, clearly, an antihero with a fixation on underage girls. That both films were produced by Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff took a lot of guts considering that a boxing film following on the heels of a hit like Rocky would invite comparisons, especially a boxing film with a character that contrasts so sharply with Rocky.

Also unbelievable about Raging Bull is the fact that it was even made. DeNiro read the autobiography the film’s based on and brought it to Scorsese’s attention after Scorsese nearly killed himself from a drug overdose. Scorsese, made the film to save his career and seriously thought Raging Bull would be his last feature film. Scorsese also wasn’t a big boxing fan which is incredible when you look at the job he did on the fight sequences. But the most remarkable thing about Raging Bull is how much better it seems to get with each passing year. And the cinematography by Michael Chapman is mesmerizing, particularly the use of light and visual effects like the shimmering heat effects in Jake’s 3rd fight with Sugar Ray which was done by placing the camera near and slightly above a flame . Then there’s Thelma Schoonmaker; what a job she did editing this masterpiece. She took the jump cut to another level in this movie from the staccato editing of the fight sequences to the popping flashbulbs when Jake wins the title to Sugar Ray hammering Jake’s face to a bloody pulp in their 4th fight--incredible!

Raging Bull is dark but lovely at the same time, 1 of those films that you can watch over and over and each time lose none of the visceral power you got the 1st time you watched it. The best sports film, period, by a mile and 1 of many classic films by 1 of the world’s greatest filmmakers, Martin Scorsese.

Chinatown film review and breakdown of the classic crime noir mystery thriller

Chinatown is a 1974 neo-noir mystery thriller that is based on a series of political conflicts involving ranchers and farmers in the Owens Valley of eastern California and the City of Los Angeles at the turn of the 20th century. 

In the film, the Chief of the Los Angeles Water Department is killed as part of a political cover-up connected to a drought and water being secretly dumped into the ocean to force a referendum on a bond measure to build a dam that would give 1 man control of all the water in Los Angeles. Nominated for 11 Academy awards and winning Best Screenplay for Robert Towne, Chinatown is produced by Robert Evans, distributed by Paramount Pictures, and directed by Roman Polanski--his last film in the United States. The Cinematography is by John A. Alonzo, the editing is by Sam O’ Steen, and the music is by Jerry Goldsmith. The film stars Jack Nicholson as Private Detective Jake Gittes, Faye Dunaway as Evelyn Mulwray, John Huston as Noah Cross, Perry Lopez as Lou Escobar, Burt Young as Curly, and the director, Roman Polanski, in a small cameo. In this presentation, I will summarize Chinatown’s plot, explore the film’s major themes, and I will offer my overall thoughts on the film.

Plot

Jake Gittes is a private investigator working out of Los Angeles and haunted by Chinatown where he once worked as a District Attorney but ended up leaving after someone he could have helped got hurt. Nowadays, he earns his living with a camera taking pictures of cheating spouses. One day a beautiful blonde named Evelyn Mulwray walks into his office. Her husband, who happens to be an official at the Water Department, may be having an affair--no big deal. Also, Jake can tell by the woman’s dress, handbag, and shoes that she has plenty of money to burn, unlike other clients that nickel and dime him to death. 

Jake takes her money, gives her a contract, and follows her husband 1st to a dry riverbed and then some dry reservoirs in the valley--again, no big deal. Just when it looks like all hope is lost, eureka! They catch the man with a blonde: 1st, in a rowboat at Westlake Park; then, sitting together at a small table in a courtyard. The pictures make the front page of the paper and causes a scandal! Days later, Hollis Mulwray’s corpse is pulled out of a reservoir. Jake smells a fish!

Then the prostitute pretending to be Mrs. Mulwray turns up dead. The real Mrs. Mulwray knew about her husband’s affair but claims to know nothing of his mistress who is the last person to see him alive. The mistress disappears without a trace. Jake doesn’t believe that Evelyn Mulwray is telling him everything. Hollis Mulwray had found something in the dry riverbed and reservoirs that somebody didn’t want him to know, something that got him killed, something that is somehow connected with Hollis Mulwray, his mistress, and Evelyn’s father, Noah Cross!

Themes

Control

Hollis Mulwray and Noah Cross stand on opposite sides over the question of control; Hollis believes that the public should control the water but Noah Cross wants to control the water. Their disagreement is a metaphor for the film’s subplot: replace the water with Evelyn’s daughter; replace Hollis with Jake Gittes; and replace Noah Cross with his daughter Evelyn. Now, you have Jake (a private investigator) who, like Hollis, wants to expose the truth (or Evelyn’s daughter) and Evelyn who--like her father--wants to control the truth by keeping the scandalous circumstances about herself, her daughter, and her father private.

Perspective and Facts

A fisherman named Curly hires Jake Gittes to find out if his wife is cheating. When Jake gets the pictures to prove that she is cheating Curly is devastated. Later in the film, though, we see Curly’s wife with a black eye and realize that it isn’t him but his wife who is the victim . Evelyn Mulwray hires Jake to find out if her husband, Hollis Mulwray, is having an affair. Jake follows Mulwray and takes pictures of him with his mistress and the pictures end up making the front page of the paper. Later, the real Evelyn Mulwray tells Jake that the girl with her husband is actually her daughter and the woman who paid Jake to take the pictures was a prostitute. Then, Jake interviews Yellburton who had worked with Hollis Mulwray at the Water Department for years. According to Yellburton, Hollis Mulwray was not the type of man who would cheat on his wife. In Chinatown, nothing is what it seems. 

Throughout the film, Jake bases his conclusions on appearances and incomplete information. For instance, when the fake Evelyn Mulwray walks into Jake’s office, tells him she’s Evelyn Mulwray, and pays him to find out if Hollis Mulwray is having an affair, Jake takes her case and her money on the strength that she looked like she had a lot of money. Jake then interprets every photograph of Hollis Mulwray and the girl as an affair because of what he is told to look for regardless of what Mulwray and the girl are actually doing in those pictures.

Water and Secrecy

Evelyn Mulwray is her daughter’s sister and mother at the same time, a paradox that holds the key to why Jake chose to leave Chinatown. Some secrets are so dark that the only way to address them is to do so indirectly. 

The word water in this movie is a metaphor for both the truth and Evelyn’s daughter; and like water, Hollis Mulwray is a metaphor for Jake Gittes. Let me explain:

The breaking of the Van der Lip dam represents the truth coming out about Evelyn, her father, and their daughter’s complicated relationship. Evelyn wants to keep her daughter from knowing that her grandfather, Noah Cross, is also her father; Noah Cross, on the other hand, wants to keep the citizens of Los Angeles from knowing that the drought is man-made to force the farmers in the valley to sell their land cheap. Then there’s Hollis Mulwray who wants to know where the water is being diverted to and Jake Gittes who wants to know Evelyn’s secret concerning Hollis Mulwray’s mistress

In this film, the tragedy surrounding the Van der Lip dam project is also a metaphor for the backstory of Chinatown. Jake left the DAs office in Chinatown because of something that happened there that he could have prevented; Hollis Mulwray is against the new dam project because the previous dam that he and Cross built failed and killed 500 people; Hollis knew he could have prevented this from happening but didn’t take action. And like Jake who swears to never make the same mistake he made in Chinatown, Hollis vows not to build another dam on an unstable foundation again.

Wrap

Chinatown is 1 of those films that is so well written and acted that it holds you and doesn’t let you go until the last scene. Like I mentioned earlier, the film is loosely based on a series of conflicts over water rights between farmers and ranchers in eastern California and the city of Los Angeles at the turn of the 20th century. Noah Cross and Hollis Mulwray are both based on 2 public officials who dried up the valley by diverting all of its water to Los Angeles. The superintendent of the Water Company was William Mulholland whose last name incorporated the 1st and last name of Hollis Mulwray.

Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway exemplify the male and female lead in the genre. The dialogue is crisp and straight to the point. And John Huston’s performance as Noah Mulwray is as menacing as they come. Great film experience and definitely essential to your collection.

'Dodes'ka-den' review and breakdown of Akira Kurosawa's 1970 film

Dodes'ka-den is a 1970 drama directed by Akira .Kurosawa, written by Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Shinobu Hashimoto and based on a book by Shūgorō Yamamoto called Kisetsu no nai machi ("A Town Without Seasons”). 

The film consists of 8 stories that are connected by an imaginary trolley-car driven by a boy named Rokuchan. The film is produced and distributed by Toho Studios with editing by Reiko Kaneko, cinematography by Yasumichi Fukuzawa and Takao Saitô, and music by Tōru Takemitsu. The film stars Yoshitaka Zushi, Kin Sugai, and Toshiyuki Tonomura. Dodes'ka-den is Kurosawa’s 1st color film and won the Belgian Film Critic Society’s Grand Prix Award.

In a shanty-town within a landfill a boy named Rokuchan begins his daily routine by watching a trolley-car leave the station. Rokuchan then joins his mother at home to chant diamoku. Rokuchan’s dream is to be a trolley conductor and the walls in the tiny home are covered with trolley-car drawings. At precisely 7:00am he puts on his imaginary uniform and goes outside to inspect his imaginary trolley-car. Finally, he starts it up and starts down the road chanting Dodes'ka-den. Kids throw rocks at him and call him the trolley-freak as he passes by.

Rokuchan makes 8 stops:

• His 1st stop is the home of an old wise man named Tanba
• His 2nd stop is the home of Shima who swaps wives with his best friend to find peace
• His 3rd stop is the home of Mr. Shima and his bossy wife
• His 4th stop is the home of 5 children who get to choose their father
• His 5th stop is the home of a girl named Katsuko who faces the decision to kill herself or the man she loves after finding out that she is pregnant
• His 6th stop is the home of Hei who closes off his heart after his wife leaves him for another man
• His 7th stop is a car where a homeless man and his son build their imaginary home
• His 8th and final stop is an old man who receives a new lease on his life after drinking poison

Rokuchan’s imaginary trolley-car is real to him. This does not mean, though, that Rokuchan’s dream is without obstacles. Children ridicule him, call him the trolley-freak and throw rocks at him; vandals spray paint insults on his house; Rokuchan’s imaginary trolley-car nearly collides with a man sitting on the tracks painting a picture. Yet, despite all of these obstacles, including his mother’s tears and doubts, Rokuchan’s trolley-car rolls on.

Proverbs 29:18-- “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

But what would happen to Rokuchan if he gave up on his dream? An old man visits the town elder named Tanba depressed on account of losing both of his sons in a war and his wife 6 months later. The old man tells Tanba that he has nothing to live for and wants to die. Tanba offers the old man some poison and a glass of water. The old man takes the poison and then goes on to say that he is only happy when he is with his sons and his wife in his dreams. Tanba asks the old man if it would be right to kill himself and his wife and 2 sons who continue to live in his dreams. This existential question brings the old man to his senses and he panics after realizing that he had already taken the poison Tanba gave him. Tanba tells him that every poison has a poison that counteracts it. Tanba puts the old man at ease by telling him that he had given him a digestive instead of poison. Depression over the loss of his family made the old man suicidal, a poison Tanba cured by giving the old man the thought that he would be killing something that gave him joy--the dream of his family.

A 15-year old girl named Katsuko lives with her aunt and lazy uncle who rapes her and gets her pregnant. She has a private crush on a delivery boy who she believes will reject her upon finding out that she is pregnant. Her 1st thought is suicide but then she has another thought: what if she killed herself and the delivery boy forgot her? At this thought, Katsuko’s rage turns from herself to him, the delivery boy. He survives her attack and later she apologizes and tells him that the thought of him forgetting her--being erased from his dreams--was simply too much for her to bear. Again, as with the old man, it takes a poison to counteract another poison. Katsuko’s poison is suicide and the thought of the delivery boy forgetting her became the antidote.

Through these examples, we see that Rokuchan gets his life from his dreams. But dreams, like seeds, need nourishment and the proper environment to grow.

Matt. 13:3-8--“A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.”

Hebrews 11:1--“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for...”

Pictures of trolley-cars cover the walls in Rokuchan’s home. He is at the trolley station everyday. When he stops by Mr. Tanba’s house, the old man asks him about his trolley-car; when people see Rokuchan coming, they move out of his way. Doubt is to a dream what drought is to life and when vandals write trolley-freak on Rokuchan’s house his mother wipes it off. Rokuchan turns a deaf ear to children who call him names ridiculing his imaginary trolley-car.

The same cannot be said for the small boy who lives in the car with his father. Although, he and his father share the same dream of having a nice home, the man sends the boy out in the hostile world alone to beg for food. There are no pictures of their dream home in the car as there are pictures of trolley-cars in Rokuchan’s home. And when the boy dies of starvation and food poisoning it is no surprise considering that his dream lacked the proper nourishment and environment.

But not all death is physical; there is also the spiritual death of a man named Hei whose wife, Ocho, leaves him to be with another man. The dead tree in front of his house is the metaphor for a man who has lost his dream.

John 1:12--“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name”
2 Corinthians 6:18--“And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

Rokuchan’s happiness also depends on his reality. Even though no one else can see his trolley-car, he can see it and follows his heart rather than his eyes. This is also the case with Umeko’s 5 children, all of whom have different fathers. Taro--the oldest child--asks his mother’s husband whether or not he is their father. Ryo tells Taro that they are all his children but that if they don’t love him and believe he is their dad, he isn’t. In other words, Ryo gives the 5 children of his wife the power to choose him or not choose him for their father.

Choice, faith, and love makes Rokuchan’s dream real as these makes Ryo the children’s father.

What may look bad may actually be good depending on one’s perspective. At the outset of the film, Mrs. Shima is misjudged by her appearance, demeanor and the women gossiping at the fountain. She gets into an argument with a produce vendor over the price of a cabbage but when the vendor gives in and offers her the cabbage for free she takes it as an insult and insists on paying him for it. When her husband invites 3 of his friends over for dinner, Mrs. Shima makes no effort to hide her resentment. She is rude to her husband’s guests and when she leaves to go to the bath house, Mr. Nomoto sounds off to Mr. Shima about her conduct. Mr. Shima defends his wife by letting Mr. Nomoto know how hard his wife worked to prepare dinner for them.

1 Samuel 16:7--“for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

Then there’s the young man mad about his job and throwing a fit. Mr. Tanba asks the young man to trade places with him. The young man calms down and feels ashamed by Tanba’s offer. All Tanba did was give the man a different perspective on his job by offering to trade places with him. Heaven and Hell are relative. One’s Hell could be someone else’s Heaven and vise versa. Rokuchan’s happiness comes from not what he sees with his eyes but from what he feels in his heart, the perspective he chooses to have on his situation. Like the landfill where he lives, there are treasures and dreams to be found among the trash.

Watching Dodes’ka-den is watching an artist with complete command of his craft. This is a very entertaining film. The film comes with a 36 minute documentary called “It’s Wonderful to Create” where the director, Akira Kurosawa, talks about the film’s production and a big budget American film called Runaway Train he planned on making that got scrapped. After getting fired from the film Tora, Tora, Tora he went on to direct Dodes'ka-den. The film runs 2:20:00 but it’s a fast 2:20:00 and is often very funny in spite of its serious subject matter. I have this film on Criterion DVD and it looks great. I highly recommend this film.

Charley Varrick steals a page out of Sun Tzu's playbook--film review!

Charley Varrick is a 1973 heist thriller by director Don Siegel based on the 1968 novel The Looters by John H. Reese. 

The film stars Walter Matthau as Charley Varrick, a former stunt-pilot and crop-duster who resorts to a life of petty bank robberies but bites off more than he can chew when a $750,000.00 haul out of a small New Mexico bank turns out to be mob money. Andrew Robinson, John Vernon, Felicia Farr, Norman Fell, and Joe Don Baker round out the cast. Although the film was well received by American film reviewers, with one reviewer--Paul Tatara--calling it “intelligent, commercial filmmaking at its finest,” the film didn’t win any awards stateside. But in 1974, The British Academy of Film and Television Arts gave Matthau its Best Actor award and nominated Frank Morris for his editing on the film.

Charley Varrick begins in Tres Cruces, New Mexico where a yellow Lincoln pulls up in front of a small bank. A sherif’s deputy is nearby and tells the middle aged couple in the car that they can’t park in front of the bank. Charley Varrick is disguised as a much older man and has a fake cast on his leg. His wife is behind the wheel and they put on a fake argument for the cop after she offers to cash the check and he insists on cashing it himself. The cop leaves and doubles back to the bank after running the stolen license plates on the Lincoln. Meanwhile, all hell breaks loose in the bank as Charley and his 2 accomplices exchange gunfire with the guards. The sheriffs deputies arrive on the scene and when they approach the Lincoln to question Nadine she shoots and kills a deputy, wounds the other, and takes a shot herself through her door.

Charley returns to the Lincoln with 1 accomplice; the other accomplice was shot and killed by a guard. The Lincoln speeds away and at a remote location, Charley and Harman Sullivan load the bags of stolen money into large drums inside of Charley’s crop dusting van. Nadine dies from her gunshot wound. Charley kisses her goodbye and rigs the car with explosives.

They go back to Charley’s trailer home and count the loot. Charley used to be a stunt-flyer at shows; his wife worked with him. Then, he became a crop-duster. When the combines put him out of business he decided to rob banks, small banks, a thousand or 2 here and there, nothing big. Charley looks down at the pile of money on the floor of his trailer--$50 and $100 stacks. Why would a small bank like that be holding this much money? He turns on the TV news and gets his answer: the bank reported it had been robbed of only $1500.00 and there was a quarter mil cash on his floor--they’d stolen mob money! Charley is cautious but Harman is much younger and very impatient. Charley wants to wait a few years for the heat to die down before spending any of the money. But Harman wants the good life, beautiful chicks, fancy restaurants, nice clothes and not even Charley was going to stop it from happening--right now! With a nod and a mysterious smile, Charley agrees to go along with Harman.

Charley Varrick is a pretty straightforward film; even so, there are Machiavellian lessons in it that are worth a mention, like the importance of thinking ahead; being careful in whom you place your trust in; the value in being decisive, and knowing when to keep your mouth shut. Sun Tzu, The Art of War Chapter 1. Laying Plans:

Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.

And also from Chapter 7. Maneuvering:

Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.

The 1st lesson in Charley Varrick is thinking ahead. Art of War Chapter 9. The Army on the March:

If forced to fight in a salt-marsh, you should have water and grass near you, and get your back to a clump of trees. So much for operations in salt-marches.

Charley is older, experienced, and wise. Made his share of mistakes as a younger man, the main mistake being that of not thinking ahead and planning his future instead of robbing small banks. Old men can afford fewer mistakes than young men. Recklessness almost got him killed in the stunt plane--as a younger man--and he isn’t about to let Harman’s impatience get him killed by the mafia at this late stage of his life. No way!

The 2nd lesson in the film is to not trust anybody. Art of War Chapter 8. Variation of Tactics:

The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable.

Charley knows that the world is about money, not loyalty. Any man that you pay for anything will always sell to the highest bidder. Charley pays $600 to Tom at the gun shop knowing in advance that the man will give him up to the hit man named Molly for a price. Charley also knows that Jewell, the photographer, will sell him out; for this reason, he gives her Harman’s picture to get Molly to kill Harman preemptively after the dummy threatened his life. Also, when Charley sets up the meeting in the wrecking yard he knows that Molly is an opportunist and that he works for Maynard but Maynard works for the mob who are willing to pay extra to find out if the bank robbery was an inside job. For this reason, Charley does a flyover and spots Molly’s car among the wrecks just as he suspected he would but Molly doesn’t know that Charley, again, has a backup plan with a little help from Maynard’s own secretary.

The 3rd lesson from the movie is speed, moving fast, being decisive. Art of War Chapter 11. The Nine Situations:

Rapidity is the essence of war: take advantage of the enemy's unreadiness, make your way by unexpected routes, and attack unguarded spots.

Once Harman plays his hand and issues his threat, Charley goes into motion right away, moves the stolen money out of the trailer, stops by the dentist office to exchange his records with Harman’s, and sets the man up to be killed by Molly.

The 4th lesson from the film is deception. Art of War Chapter 4. Tactical Dispositions:

The general who is skilled in defense hides in the most secret recesses of the earth; he who is skilled in attack flashes forth from the topmost heights of heaven. Thus on the one hand we have ability to protect ourselves; on the other, a victory that is complete.

Also, Chapter 1, Laying Plans:

Pretend to be weak, that he--your enemy--may grow arrogant.

When Harman threatens Charley, Charley goes along as though nothing happened, pretending to be looking out for both of their interests, and going out of his way to earn Harman’s trust by reassurances, all the while setting Harman up for the kill. Art of War Chapter 11. The Nine Situations:

Success in warfare is gained by carefully accommodating ourselves to the enemy's purpose.
At first, then, exhibit the coyness of a maiden, until the enemy gives you an opening; afterwards emulate the rapidity of a running hare, and it will be too late for the enemy to oppose you.

Charley then delivers flowers to Maynard’s secretary, follows her home, and seduces her. After they make love, Ms. Fort tells Charley not to trust her boss, Mr. Maynard. The Art of War Chapter 2. Waging War:

Captured soldiers should be kindly treated and kept.

Also, Chapter 13, The Use of Spies:

Knowledge of the enemy's dispositions can only be obtained from other men.

Charley Varrick is one tight film, like all of Don Siegel’s films--lean, mean, and under 2 hours, every minute of which is completely entertaining with action, intrigue, intelligence and quite a bit of humor. The main stars of the film are Matthau and Joe Don (Walking Tall) Baker as Molly, a swaggering no-nonsense hitman that likes his eggs over easy, dry wheat toast, tea with honey, and most importantly--no whores! Charley Varrick fits Matthau perfectly as the cold calculating elder statesman to Andrew Robinson’s rash impulsive Hartman. And, actor John Vernon is also perfectly cast as the bank president out to cover his ass after losing the mob’s money.

Charley Varrick is one tight film, like all of Don Siegel’s films--lean, mean, and under 2 hours, every minute of which is completely entertaining with action, intrigue, intelligence and quite a bit of humor. The main stars of the film are Matthau and Joe Don (Walking Tall) Baker as Molly, a swaggering no-nonsense hitman that likes his eggs over easy, dry wheat toast, tea with honey, and most importantly--no whores! Charley Varrick fits Matthau perfectly as the cold calculating elder statesman to Andrew Robinson’s rash impulsive Harman. And, actor John Vernon is also perfectly cast as the bank president out to cover his ass after losing the mob’s money.

I have a couple of favorite scenes. One involves Molly repossessing the car from the brother; the other scene involves Molly and the one-legged dude named Tom that owns the gun shop. There is also a great title sequence at the beginning that’s like a retrospective on the days when things were much simpler. This is a great Don Siegel primer for those who haven’t seen any of his films, or may have seen without being aware of it.