On Saturday, April 7, 2007 at 11:10:52 PM UTC-10,
aest...@hotmail.com wrote:
On Monday at 2 A.M., TCM is scheduled to telecast Kurosawa's SEVEN
SAMURAI.
Check your local listings.
Relative morality and "Seven Samurai":
- An important theme throughout the film is that different individuals have differing senses of morality based on their own experiences in life, and that people must try to understand the views of others in the context of their personal experiences. The
seven samurai are introduced as ronin, which means they have no lord, so they have had to determine their own sense of what is right and wrong in the world, rather than follow the instructions of a master. The audience comes to appreciate this about them,
and in particular, that they have looked within themselves for guidance rather deferring to societal expectations, as some other ronin tend to do. However, the idea that their moral determinations should be considered absolute is challenged by Kikuchiyo,
when he explodes in anger at the issue of the villagers’ hunting of samurai in the past—he points out that the way that samurai have oppressed farmers for centuries must be considered when judging these actions, even if it does not completely excuse
them. The samurai actually listen to this argument, and their understanding that the villagers’ worldview is shaped by their hardships allows the samurai and villagers to finally come together before the battle.
https://www.gradesaver.com/seven-samurai/study-guide/themes
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