The Hours and Times: Kurosawa and the Art of Epic Storytelling
By September 04, 2006
The great German composer Richard Strauss was conducting his three-hour-plus Der Rosenkavalier when—or so the story goes—he turned Read more »
- Japan
- 1954
- 207 minutes
- 1.33:1
- Japanese
SYNOPSIS: One of the most beloved movie epics of all time, Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai (Shichinin no samurai) tells the story of a sixteenth-century village whose desperate inhabitants hire the eponymous warriors to protect them from invading bandits. This three-hour ride—featuring legendary actors Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura—seamlessly weaves philosophy and entertainment, delicate human emotions and relentless action into a rich, evocative, and unforgettable tale of courage and hope.
Cast & CreditsOpen
Cast
| Kikuchiyo | Toshiro Mifune |
| Kambei | Takashi Shimura |
| Shino | Keiko Tsushima |
| Wife | Yukio Shimazaki |
| Farmer Manzo | Kamatari Fujiwara |
| Shichiroji | Daisuke Kato |
| Katsushiro | Ko Kimura |
| Heihachi | Minoru Chiaki |
| Kyuzo | Seiji Miyaguchi |
| Farmer Mosuke | Yoshio Kosugi |
| Farmer Yohei | Bokuzen Hidari |
| Gorobei | Yoshio Inaba |
Credits
| Director | Akira Kurosawa |
| Screenplay | Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni and Shinobu Hashimoto |
| Producer | Sojiro Motoki |
| Cinematography | Asakazu Nakai |
| Music | Fumio Hayasaka |
| Editing | Hiroshi Nezu |
Disc Features
SPECIAL EDITION THREE-DISC SET:
- All-new, restored high-definition digital transfer
- Two audio commentaries: one by film scholars David Desser, Joan Mellen, Stephen Prince, Tony Rayns, and Donald Richie; the other by Japanese-film expert Michael Jeck
- A 50-minute documentary on the making of Seven Samurai, part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create
- My Life in Cinema, a two-hour video conversation between Akira Kurosawa and Nagisa Oshima produced by the Directors Guild of Japan
- Seven Samurai: Origins and Influences, a new documentary looking at the samurai traditions and films that impacted Kurosawa’s masterpiece
- Theatrical trailers and teaser
- Gallery of rare posters and behind-the scenes and production stills
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by Peter Cowie, Philip Kemp, Peggy Chiao, Alain Silver, Kenneth Turan, Stuart Galbraith, Arthur Penn, and Sidney Lumet and an interview with Toshiro Mifune
From the CurrentView the Current »
Film Essays
A Time of Honor:
Seven Samurai and Sixteenth-Century Japan
By September 04, 2006
There’s an old Chinese curse that runs, “May you live in interesting times.” And sixteenth-century Japan was certainly an interesting Read more »
Kurosawa’s Early Influences
By September 04, 2006
The themes, symbolism, and aesthetic forms of Akira Kurosawa’s films owe their origins to the ideas and sensibilities that captured his imagination as a young man Read more »
Seven Samurai
By November 22, 1999
Breathtaking, fastmoving, and overflowing with a delightfully self-mocking sense of humor, Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai is one of the most popular and influential Japanese films Read more »
