Sight & Sound Poll 2012: Seven Samurai
September 28, 2012
Film Info
- Japan
- 1954
- 207 minutes
- Black and White
- 1.33:1
- Japanese
- Spine #2
One of the most thrilling movie epics of all time, 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 from Akira Kurosawa—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
| 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
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with the original uncompressed monaural soundtrack and an optional DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
- Two audio commentaries, one featuring film scholars David Desser, Joan Mellen, Stephen Prince, Tony Rayns, and Donald Richie, and the other Japanese film expert Michael Jeck
- Fifty-minute documentary on the making of Seven Samurai, created as part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create
- My Life in Cinema, a two-hour video conversation from 1993 between directors Akira Kurosawa and Nagisa Oshima
- Seven Samurai: Origins and Influences, a documentary looking at the samurai traditions and films that helped shape Kurosawa’s masterpiece
- Theatrical trailers and teaser
- Gallery of rare posters, behind-the scenes photos, and production stills
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by Kenneth Turan, Peter Cowie, Philip Kemp, Peggy Chiao, Alain Silver, Stuart Galbraith, Arthur Penn, and Sidney Lumet and an interview with Toshiro Mifune from 1993
New cover by Neil Kellerhouse
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