Seven Samurai
七人の侍
1954 · Japan · 207 min · 1.37:1 · B&W
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Introduction
Seven Samurai is a 1954 Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa, produced by Toho, with Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura among the leads. Set during the warring-states period, it follows a farming village that hires seven masterless samurai, paying them in rice, to defend it against bandits who return after each harvest. The film moves through recruitment, preparation and the final battle, which was shot in rain and mud with several cameras running at once and long lenses, a method widely adopted by action films afterwards. It runs about two hundred and seven minutes and was the most expensive Japanese production made to that date. Four of the seven are killed; the survivors are left standing outside the village while the farmers return to planting.
Movement as Narrative
The shoot ran about a year, far beyond its schedule, and Toho halted production twice to control the cost. Cut versions circulated after the Japanese premiere, and for many years the print seen abroad ran about a hundred and sixty minutes; the full version was reissued later. The film took the Silver Lion at Venice in 1954, and was remade in the United States as the western The Magnificent Seven in 1960.
Titles
- Mainland China
- 七武士
- Hong Kong
- 七武士
- Taiwan
- 七武士
- English
- Seven Samurai
- Original
- 七人の侍
Cast
Where to Watch
International
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