Title: Seven Samurai

Year Released/Rating: 1954

Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima

Written By: Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni

Directed By: Akira Kurosawa

Genre: Action, Drama

Star Rating:  5/5 stars

Where I Got It: We own it

Trivia:

• Toho pulled the plug on the project several times when it ran over budget, forcing director Akira Kurosawa to go back and personally argue with the board of directors who were convinced they were making a flop.
• First use of a scene which is now commonplace in cinema: The approaching horde coming into view as they crest a hilltop, specifically when Kikuchiyo sees the mounted bandits approaching.
• Akira Kurosawa did not get along well with actor Yoshio Inaba, (Gorobei), deriding and yelling at him for most of the shoot. Although Inaba worked once more appeared in a minor role in Kurosawa's Throne of Blood, Inaba apparently found the experience of shooting Seven Samurai so stressful that he limited the amount of film work he did after it.
• Akira Kurosawa's ancestors were samurai, roughly up to a hundred years before he made this film.
• Kurosawa designed a registry of all 101 residents of the village, creating a family tree to help his extras build their characters and relationships to each other.

Summary: A poor village under attack by bandits recruits seven unemployed samurai to help them defend themselves.

Review: This movie is shot beautifully.  Every scene is stages exactly with lighting, scenery, and blocking.  Kurosawa even adds the quiet still shots to give us a scope of the film.  Each of the characters has a sense of history and purpose, even the village extras.  This isn't just a story of the seven samurai, but an entire culture.  We see the struggles and triumphs of the people.  I'm glad I finally watched this movie (J's been bugging me for ages).  It is truly a cinematic masterpieces.  Kurosawa was the Orson Welles of his day and place.

Best Bits: 

• Gisaku: Find hungry samurai.
• [on taking Katsushiro as a student] Kambei Shimada: You embarrass me. You're overestimating me. Listen, I'm not a man with any special skill, but I've had plenty of experience in battles; losing battles, all of them. In short, that's all I am. Drop such an idea for your own good.  Katsushiro: No Sir, my decision has been made. I'll follow you sir.  Kambei Shimada: I forbid it. I can't afford to take a kid with me.
• Kikuchiyo: You fool! Damn you! You call yourself a horse! For shame! Hey! Wait! Please! I apologize! Forgive me!
• Gisaku: What's the use of worrying about your beard when your head's about to be taken?