Seeing "Seven Samurai" for the first time

Went to a screening of Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" at The Aero Theatre Saturday night. I had never seen it before, just bits and pieces. I really enjoyed it, and recognized the infuence the movie's had on cinema ever since.

A couple of misconceptions: I never knew it was over three hours long! Wow, who knew?! Plus, I'd always had it in my head for some reason that Toshiro Mifune's character was serious and intense. He, of course, was realy animated and very funny! My only previous notion of the story came from seeing the American styled remake, "The Magnificant Seven". So it was a treat to finally watch this classic film in Japanese with english subtitles on the big screen. It was a packed house as well.

I was amazed by the camera work at times. This film was made in 1954 when cameras were still pretty bulky. And yet Kurosawa shot several scenes with a rough yet fluid, almost steadycam like quality. Much more of a broad epic epic than I imagined, Kurosawa was akin to Steven Spielberg at the time he made "Jaws". Still somewhat early in his career, yet with a brilliant and innovative eye behind the lens.