Shot 1: (01:36) Longshot.
A hill with a series of mounds and carefully placed stone. The hill, where it
gives way to sky, holds the four most noticeable mounds, each with a sword
sticking out of it and small flag-like rags being tossed about in the wind and
a small stone centered near the base of each mound. Below that, the other, less
significant seeming mounds and stones dot the hillside. The stones used in the
lower part of the graveyard have a flat, wide stone on top of a thicker stone
base while most of the mounds lay unadorned. The diegetic sounds of a beating
drum, a high pitched flute-like instrument, and the chanting of one prominent
male voice and a chorus of both male and female voices are heard throughout. At
the bottom of the hill, where the road lies, three men enter. The first man, an
older man (Kambie), walks purposefully across the frame to stand a third of the
way through the frame from the right, with two men, one around the same age but
with a thicker build (Shichiroji) and the other a younger man dressed slightly
nicer than the older men (Katsushiro). All three turn to look up the hill very
deliberately. The first man directly faces the hill body and all when he comes
to a standstill, while the other two have their head turned towards the hill,
but their bodies tilted towards the first man. One by one, starting with
Kambei, the men turn to face right, towards where the entered the shot before
Kambei returns to facing the hill, crossing his arms while the other two watch
him. Moments later, the youngest of the three men, Katsushiro, breaks off to
enter the middle of the road just as women carrying baskets on a pole begin
jogging by, each wearing a kimono and a wide brimmed hat. The last woman to
enter the scene reaches Katushiro and stops short.
Shot 2: The drums, flute, and chanting continue. Close up.
The woman (Shino) who stopped in the previous shot is seen in profile and appears
displeased with the meeting. Like the other women, she wears the wide hat. The
hat has a pattern of shapes tied together with a solid line culminating in a
triangle facing down. Her hair is held back with a cloth and the hat held on
with a band that goes across her chin. Across her left shoulder is a pole.
Behind lies the same hill as described in shot one, although much of it is
obscured be her head and hat. She makes a slight forward and back motion with
her head (not a nod), brought up short in her steps.
Shot 3: Katsushiro, also wearing clothes with flora on it,
looks troubled by the woman. He takes a few steps towards her.
Shot 4: The woman becomes visibly upset and ducks her head
before running forward.
Shot 5: Katsushiro turns as the woman runs by, a startled
look on his face before he is facing away from the camera as she hurries away.
He begins to take a step left.
Shot 6: Like in shot 1, we have the hill, but both of the
older men are now watching the younger as he walks out of the frame to the
right, following the woman. As he walks farther towards the edge, the second
man turns his body as he visually follows the younger man’s progress. He then
turns his head slowly to look at the first man. A breeze causes dust to rush
across the frame form left to right near the crest of the hill. The second man
slowly turns his head once again towards where the younger walked off to.
Shot 7: Medium shot. The youngest of the three men is seen
looking defeatedly after something off camera while behind him the older men
watch. There is a house behind the three men. His sword is buckled to his side
and the silk edge of his tunic. Both of the older men appear very stoic. The
first man with his arms crossed, the other with his hands at his sides. The
first man’s pants ruffle.
Shot 8: The volume of the instruments and chanting increases. Longshot. The woman hurries through the water, grabbing a clump of plants out of the water. She straightens up and then takes a sharp glance behind her. A women’s voice becomes prominent in the chanting. She the hurries over to her position in the line of women.
Shot 9: same as shot 7. The volume of the instruments and
chanting decreases back to what it was before.
Shot 10: A two shot of the older men with the house just
behind them. The first man looks appraising while the second man looks vaguely
confused or upset. Both their heads shift slightly to the right.
Shot 11: The young man is standing on two logs that serve as
a path, watching the women working from afar. Beyond the women is large expanse
of hill or mountain.
Shot 13: Close up on the woman. She straightens up, using
the top of the muddy hand to wipe the bottom of her chin. She bends back down,
singing and bobbing slightly up and down, planting in time with the woman next
to her. Her singing is loud and discordant.
Shot 14: Same as shot 7. The woman’s chanting stops. The
instruments and other chanting continue on.
Shot 15: Two shot of the older men looking off to the right.
The man on the right turns his head towards the man on the left then looks back
to the right again as the man on the left adjusts his gaze slightly. The man on
the left, after a moment, dips his head and turns more towards the camera. He takes
three steps forward. He ducks his head again and walks back towards the hill,
facing slightly towards the man on the right. He turns back to where they were
facing at the beginning of the shot before saying, “In the end we lost this
battle too.” The man on the right looks at him. What?” He asks. The man on the
left looks back at him. I mean, the victory belongs to those peasants. Not to
us.” Once he finishes speaking he turns back towards the hill. The man on the
right follows his lead. The camera lifts up to take in the entire hill again,
as in shot 1, until only the hill is shown with no people with the crest of the
hill centered in the frame. We hear the non-diegetic sad sounds of a trumpet,
which then swell louder. A wind blows loose dirt across the hill in several
gusts.
Scene Analysis: The very end of the film is where the film officially transcends from an action movie into something more. This scene deals with loss, acceptance, and understanding. This only covers the second half of the scene, capturing the reactions of the remaining Samurai, rather than the earlier focus on the planting of the rice. This scene contains very few words, allowing each word a greater emphasis. The part of the ending scene that I chose to cover begins and ends in the same place: looking at the graveyard and the samurai’s fallen companions. At the same time though, it pays tribute to the fallen peasants as well, with their graves being shown as well. The part of this scene between Shino and Katsushiro was a reiteration of the consequences of actions. For the fighting done earlier in the movie, the consequence was the deaths of the four samurai and the fallen peasants. For Katsushiro and Shino, the consequences of their affections was that they both realized they couldn’t be together, and that they needed to move on. It is something that Shino seems to understand better than Katsushiro, in that she returns to the life she has, while he lingers, staring after her. The scene ends with Kambei explaining that the Samurai still ere on the losing side. That they had not won, but that the peasants had gained a victory. Here we see humility of the proud, the understanding of the wise, and the acceptance of a changing world. Kambei sees that the farmers have more going for them than the samurai did. Like it was a new planting season, it was time for the samurai to move on.
