Seven Samurai

Apr 23, 2001 — Released in late 1938, Alexander Nevsky was not only the first sound film to be directed by Sergei Eisenstein, but the director’s political comeback as well. This most famous of Soviet artists had not completed a movie since The Old...

Jul 17, 1995 — Kurosawa made the acquaintance of Desu Uzala thirty years earlier, when he read Vladimir Arseniev’s account of charting the Russian-Manchurian border in the earlier part of this century. There, the Russian soldier and explorer had met Dersu, the Siberian hunter,...

Jan 27, 1993 — In beautifully composed black-and-white and tempered by a gentle and nostalgic choral score, Kon Ichikawa's drama probes deeply into the moral chaos of war.

Nov 19, 1990 — By facing death, Akira Kurosawa fashions an affirmation of life, characteristically clear-headed in its exploration of man’s fate.

Mar 25, 2016 — Director Ben Wheatley discusses his favorite films, which include Godard’s Weekend. After watching it, he says, “I almost felt like I’d had the stack of cards in my head rearranged and reprogrammed.”

Dec 9, 2009 — Not that he himself wanted to be remembered. Rather, he wanted his work to be remembered. He once wrote: “Take ‘myself,’ subtract ‘movies,’ and the result is ‘zero.’” It was as though he thought he did not exist except through...

Oct 24, 2005 — Kihachi Okamoto’s dynamic, intricately madcap movie is a multitoned send-up of samurai film lore.

Mar 15, 2024 — Brussels celebrates Chantal Akerman, Hirokazu Kore-eda remembers Ryuichi Sakamoto, and there are some intriguing projects in the works.

Jan 3, 2019 — Repertory Picks Tomorrow, as part of its ongoing After Midnite series, the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, Massachusetts, will spool up a 35 mm print of Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo for a late-night screening. With this 1961 classic—made after he had...

Jun 27, 2012 — The warrior and philosopher protagonist of The Samurai Trilogy, Musashi Miyamoto, was a real-life seventeenth-century figure. Here, the translator of Musashi’s The Book of Five Rings tells us about this fascinating man and his principles of swordplay and spirituality.