acoolsha
Akira Kurosawa
The Magnificent Seven 16 December 06
Section: kurosawa
Categories: Film / dvd
I read one review of the 2001 DVD release of this film which criticizes it from a political perspective and makes some good points, describing the seven main characters as ...a Peace Corps /Green Berets combo (link →). He points out that Americans with guns, it’s been proven time and again, cross the border to defend American interests, and not for charity. But these characters crossed the border to get away from America, from the law, from their past. Anyway, he is being a bit dogmatic. The film has some positive qualities: as he said, Westerns really are about politics and this one diverges from most in that it does try, in a sometimes awkward way, to deal with both racism and class contradictions.
- Title: The Magnificent Seven
- Directed by: John Sturges
- Writing credits: Walter Newman and William Roberts
- Starring: Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, James Coburn, Horst Buchholz, Brad Dexter
- Cinematography: Charles Lang
- Year: 1960
- Further details: Color, 128m.