Shichinin no samurai (1954)

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Akira Kurosawa (written by) &
Shinobu Hashimoto (written by) ...

Release Date:

19 November 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Tagline:

The Mighty Warriors Who Became the Seven National Heroes of a Small Town

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Samurai | Bandit | Farmer | Japan | Rice

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Toshirô Mifune	...	Kikuchiyo
Takashi Shimura	...	Kanbê Shimada
Keiko Tsushima	...	Shino
Yukiko Shimazaki	...	Rikichi's Wife
Kamatari Fujiwara	...	Manzô - Father of Shino
Daisuke Katô	...	Shichirôji
Isao Kimura	...	Katsushirô Okamoto
Minoru Chiaki	...	Heihachi Hayashida
Seiji Miyaguchi	...	Kyûzô
Yoshio Kosugi	...	Mosuke
Bokuzen Hidari	...	Yohei
Yoshio Inaba	...	Gorobê Katayama
Yoshio Tsuchiya	...	Rikichi
Kokuten Kôdô	...	Gisaku, the Old Man
Eijirô Tôno	...	Kidnapper

Also Known As:

Seven Samurai (UK) (USA)
Shichi-nin no samurai (Japan) (alternative transliteration)

Runtime:

207 min | 160 min (international version) | Argentina:163 min | Sweden:202 min (2002 re-release) | UK:150 min (original version) | UK:190 min (1991 re-release) | USA:141 min | USA:203 min (re-release) | USA:207 min (restored version) | Spain:202 min (DVD edition)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Brazil:10 | Czech Republic:U | Spain:T | Argentina:16 | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:11 (re-rating) (2002) | Sweden:15 (original rating) | Switzerland:14 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1991) | USA:Unrated | West Germany:16

Company:

Toho Company

Trivia:

Akira Kurosawa's original idea for the film was to make it about a day in the life of a samurai, beginning with him rising from bed and ending with him making some mistake that required him to kill himself to save face. Despite a good deal of research, he did not feel he had enough solid factual information to make the movie, but came across an anecdote about a village hiring samurai to protect them and decided to use that idea. Kurosawa wrote a complete dossier for each character with a speaking role. In it were details about what they wore, their favorite foods, their past history, their speaking habits and every other detail he could think of about them. No other Japanese director had ever done this before.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: During the final battle, when first we see Kikuchiyo enter the females' hut, it appears that he backs the bandit out twice. In reality, it is two different bandits, as can be seen by the fact that they are wearing different helmets. What is strange is that Kikuchiyo kills the bandit chief, who fired the two final and fatal shots, but the second man (wearing a kabuto with a wide, flat neck-guard) seems to vanish without trace after leaving the building.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Bandit second-in-command: We'll take this place next.
Bandit Chief: We took it last autumn. They haven't got anything worth taking yet. Let's wait.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Corri uomo corri (1968)

Kurosawa is the greatest director that ever lived

Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece... The Japanese equivalent to Orson Welles' Citizen Kane.. I say it's just as good, if not even better. Not only Kurosawa's most well known film, but the most widely recognized Japanese film ever made. This movie will forever be known as a milestone in motion picture history.

The story revolves around a village that has become a group of bandits' common looting and pillaging ground. The villagers cannot take this any longer and go to town to hire warriors to defend the village from the bandits. A wandering ronin, Kambei (Takashi Shimura) agrees to help them and with his help, they recruit six others that agree to take the job. The seven samurai teach the villagers how to stand up to the bandits and defend themselves. Finally, when the time comes, they engage in a fierce battle with the attacking bandits.

About once in every 20 years or so we are gifted with a film that has the meaning, power, richness, and technique that The Seven Samurai has. I cannot urge anyone enough to see this film, the images are true cinematic poetry rich with so much emotion that I cannot even describe them in words. If you have never seen any of Kurosawa's works, then please see Seven Samurai... you will witness the true beauty, excellence and magic that the art form known as film is capable of.