Searching for The Samurai

I mentioned a while back (in the comments of my review of Kung Fu Hustle) that finding less famous and/or foreign films to rent in Kalamazoo can be difficult, as evidenced by quest to rent Seven Samurai. This is one of the most famous films of all time. It has inspired a host of movies from The Magnificent Seven to A Bug's Life. It comes in at number 5 on the IMDB's list of top 250 movies of all time. If I can expect to find any foreign film at my local video store it would be this one. No problem right? If it were that simple, there wouldn't be a story for me to tell.

A couple of years ago, I decided that, since I had never seen it, I should rent Seven Samurai. Easy enough in concept. I go to the video store. Find the movie, rent it, take it home and watch it. I started looking around the store trying to determine which section would be most likely to house my quarry. Action? It makes sense. I look and no such luck. How about drama? Sure why not. Not there either. Classics? Could be, but it's not. Maybe Western? It's a bit of a stretch (even though it's a very similar style and several of Kurosawa's movies inspired Westerns), but it's a better guess than either musical or comedy and that's all that's left. After an exhaustive search of the premises, I decide to go against my better judgement and ask for help. They've got a computer up there. They can look things up.

I walk up to the counter as the employee looks confused because I am not laden with rentals and purchases. "Hi. I was wondering if you could help me. I'm looking for a movie, and I didn't know if you carried it and I was just overlooking it or what."

The employee perks up. Surely, he'll be able to point me directly to the entire section of Resident Evil, available on DVD, VHS, Laser Disc and BetaMax. "Ok, great what can I help you find?"

"I'm looking for Seven Samurai." The smile on his face is replaced by bewilderment. This only gets worse as I continue. "It's a Japanese movie."

"Huh? What?" Confusion has rendered him more articulate than ever.

"Seven Samurai. It's a film directed by Akira Kurosawa?"

"Who?" It was at this point that I realized I was fighting a losing battle.

"Akira Kurosawa. He was a Japanese director. You know what, do you have a section where I might be likely to find it?"

"Umm...well we have section of foreign movies in the back in the room through those doors." I look back toward the room that only adults can enter. "Is that the type your looking for?"

"No," I said and with a heavy sigh, walked off to go home and start a Netflix account.

Until later...