SEVEN SAMURAI | SHICHININ NO SAMURAI

JAPAN | 1954 | B&W | DCP | 207’ | JAPANESE

The heroic story of a group of Ronin hired by the farmers of a small village to defend it from bandits. Enviably authentic in its portrayal of a turbulent period, influenced as much by the American Western as by the Japanese theatre, Japan's most expensive film production till then is definitive epic cinema: from the unsurpassed battle scenes to the masterful handling of numerous characters, often based on historical figures exhaustively studied by the director himself. A hymn to human endurance, self-sacrifice and solidarity that has defined action cinema worldwide like few other films, Kurosawa’s effort was awarded the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival for his unparalleled direction and earned two Oscar nominations (costume and set design).

photo credit ©1954 TOHO CO., LTD.

DIRECTOR: Akira Kurosawa
SCREENWRITERS: Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni
DoP: Asakazu Nakai
MUSIC: Fumio Hayasaka
EDITOR: Kōichi Iwashita
PRINCIPAL CAST: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima, Isao Kimura, Daisuke Katō, Seiji Miyaguchi, Yoshio Inaba, Minoru Chiaki, Kamatari Fujiwara, Kokuten Kōdō, Yoshio Tsuchiya, Eijirō Tōno, Jun Tatara, Atsushi Watanabe, Yoshio Kosugi, Bokuzen Hidari, Yukiko Shimazaki

AKIRA KUROSAWA
Japanese filmmaker, legend of world cinema. He was recognized more than any of his Asian counterparts and had an overall and profound influence on Western film culture. 30 films, a multi-award winning body of work (Oscar, Golden Lion, Golden Palm, among others), a legendary 16-film collaboration with Toshiro Mifune, a life and work that marked globally the artistry of the 20th century.

FILMOGRAPHY (SELECTED)
1990 Dreams 
1985 Ran 
1970 Dodes’ka-den 
1965 Red Beard 
1963 High and Low 
1961 Yojimbo 
1960 The Bad Sleep Well 
1958 The Hidden Fortress 
1957 Throne of Blood 
1954 Seven Samurai 
1952 Ikiru 
1951 The Idiot 
1950 Rashomon