Why are Kurosawa's films often seen as violent?
Violence, in my films, is rarely gratuitous. It is a consequence, a force of nature unleashed when human beings are pushed to their limits. Look at the battles in 'Seven Samurai,' or the duels in 'Yojimbo.' They are not spectacles for their own sake, but expressions of desperation, of the clash of wills and the stark reality of survival. The rain often washes over such moments, or the sun beats down mercilessly. Violence can be a brutal metaphor for internal conflict, the destructive impulses that lie dormant within us. It is through witnessing this chaos that we might better understand the need for order, for compassion, and for the difficult choices that define us.
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