Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

I haven't been watching as much television as folks might expect, what with my spending so much time in bed being frustrated about not feeling well enough to do much else. When I'm sleep-deprived and horribly uncomfortable, the range of types of shows I have the patience and attention span for narrows quite a bit. But I did sit through a movie worth commenting on.

Although I'm not a huge fan of the western, for years and years,I've heard references to The Magnificent Seven and its Japanese premake (no, no, I know that's unfair; I just really, really wanted an excuse to use the word "premake" -- I am of course referring to 1954's Seven Samurai), so when I saw that the classic movies channel one of the local Sinclair stations tacked on when it went digital was showing four Magnificent Seven movies, I decided to try to catch at least the first one.

Wow, I'm glad I did. I now see why folks keep talking about that film's importance, why it's considered a classic, and why so many people just plain like it so much. Now I really want to watch Seven Samurai as well. (And I want sheet music for the main theme from the Magnificent Seven soundtrack.) Although I recognized a lot of actors' names, the only actor I recognized by face and voice was Yul Brynner -- in my defense, I point to my earlier comment about not having been a big fan of westerns, and it was interesting to see that role interpreted by someone else in a sequel.

There's probably not much I can say that isn't already familiar to most of you and/or said more coherently at Wikipedia and IMDB, but I did want to take a few minutes just just say, "Wow. I get it." And that now I can be more aware of the tropes introduced or perfected in this story when I find them used or referenced in other works. (One pattern that I would have guessed was much older, Wikipedia says was really introduced by Seven Samurai.)

I'm not quite as blown away by The Magnificent Seven as I was when I finally saw Citizen Kane after similarly having heard what an important work it was for so long, but I'm impressed enough. And as I said, now I realy must find an opportunity to watch Seven Samurai.