Directed by:
黒澤明Cinematography:
Asakazu NakaiComposer:
Fumio HayasakaCast:
Takashi Shimura, Daisuke Katō, Minoru Chiaki, Isao Kimura, Seiji Miyaguchi, Toshirō Mifune, Kamatari Fujiwara, Atsushi Watanabe, Isao Yamagata, Reiko Mori (more)VOD (3)
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Set in 16th Century Japan, Akira Kurosawa's epic Seven Samurai follows the plight of a defenseless farming village that lives in constant fear of marauding bandits. The farmers know that when their crops are harvested, the thugs will attack, so four men go to town in hopes of employing samurai to fight for them. However, the poor villagers can merely offer payment in the form of shelter and a daily bowl of rice, and initially only Kambei (Takashi Shimura), a brave elder samurai, and his eager young apprentice, Katsushiro (Isao Kimura), take up their cause. Encountering various nomadic warriors on the streets, they slowly put together his team of swordsmen, recruiting Shichiroji (Daisuke Katô), Gorobei (Yoshio Inaba), Heihachi (Minoru Chiaki), and Kyuzo (Seiji Miyaguchi). Finally, Kikuchiyo (Toshirô Mifune), a scruffy wanderer who has been trailing them, completes the small band of ronin. However, upon reaching the village, the samurai learn that the farmers fear them as much the enemy. Despite the tensions, Kambei and his men slowly train the peasants to defend their village. Eventually the warriors launch a preemptive strike against the bandits, and begin a series of intense conflicts that culminates in a rain-soaked final battle. (IndiePix Films)
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Reviews (10)
Even though I'd been interested in Kikuchiya for a long time, even though it entertained me and made me laugh, it was too long... Yes, it's a legendary film that a lot of directors have taken their cue from. It's typically Japanese, those who don't know a bit of the Japanese mentality may be surprised by many things (the film remains misunderstood in many aspects); it flows slowly, it flows gradually, it flows with the seasons. And apparently it's a must for anyone who wants to get to know Kurasawa-sama a little :-) But let's not kid ourselves, the running time is just overlong... :-D
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Akira Kurosawa's sprawling work and predecessor to The Magnificent Seven (which I haven't seen yet) still offers a terrific action spectacle with an element of humour and drama after almost six decades. I'm not saying I stared at the screen with my mouth open for the entire three hours, but I just loved the fights, the camerawork and Kikuchi's awkwardness. In short, a great Japanese film that may be longer than it needs to be, but is definitely worth a watch.
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Seven stars for seven samurais. Oh, I can’t give that many, can I... So at least five of them. The still unsurpassed original which, unlike its more famous remake, loses only in not having a “star" amongst the baddies. Like Calvera in The Magnificent Seven. The western version also wins in terms of pace. In all other aspects, the Kurosawa version is better and since everybody is aware of the qualities of the American remake, I don’t have to sing the Samurais’ praises any further. Along with Red Beard and High and Low, this is Kurosawa’s best piece.
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The Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven clearly demonstrate the difference in the nature of Japanese and American cinema. Where one is distinguished by tough guy gestures, strong speeches, and heroic archetypes, the other relies on a slow pace, pleasure in storytelling, drawn characters, and a much more universal message of war. Even the conclusion of Seven Samurai (the legendary "we were not the ones who won") is completely without pathos and rather involves the tragedy of men who cannot stop fighting because war is their livelihood. Kurosawa's film may be too relaxed for the action genre, permeated with beautiful dialogues and magnificent "twists and turns", but that's what makes it a hundred times more valuable than Sturges' subsequent remake. It's not just a story of few against many, but a story of a real war (which is what the samurai call the defense of the village), which surprisingly lacks the inescapable feeling of "they will wipe them out". The final scene pits 13 highwaymen and a village full of determined defenders against each other! There is no classic villain! The absence of the usual scheme of good vs. evil (the samurai are certainly not saints) and its replacement by believable characters led by the incredible freak Toshiro Mifune endows the film with beautiful poetry that the American bubblegum version can only wish it had. Definitely one of the best war films ever made. Wise, prudent, deep. [I really like The Magnificent Seven, but...]
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Kurosawa’s gem is a tad slow for my taste, but precise in every detail. This picture was a foundation stone for so many stories, where a handful of brave men stand up for the weak, even though they are heavily outnumbered. These days we should value these films all the more, because even after all these years they tell us more about people than any others. Your head is on the block and all you think of are your whiskers?
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Gallery (62)
Photo © Toho Company Ltd.
![Seven Samurai - Photos](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/161/446/161446837_a258df.jpg)
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