Shichinin no samurai (1954)

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Akira Kurosawa (screenplay) &
Shinobu Hashimoto (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

19 November 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | War

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

Takashi Shimura	...	Kambei Shimada
Toshirô Mifune	...	Kikuchiyo
Yoshio Inaba	...	Gorobei Katayama
Seiji Miyaguchi	...	Kyuzo
Minoru Chiaki	...	Heihachi Hayashida
Daisuke Katô	...	Shichiroji
Isao Kimura	...	Katsushiro Okamoto
Keiko Tsushima	...	Shino
Yukiko Shimazaki	...	Rikichi's Wife
Kamatari Fujiwara	...	Manzo, father of Shino
Yoshio Kosugi	...	Mosuke
Bokuzen Hidari	...	Yohei
Yoshio Tsuchiya	...	Rikichi
Kokuten Kodo	...	Gisaku, the Old Man
Takuzo Kumagaya	...	Peasant (as Jirô Kumagai)
Eijirô Tôno	...	Kidnapper
Haruko Toyama	...	Ginsaku's Daughter-in-law
Tsuneo Katagiri	...	Farmer in front of Gono
Kichijiro Ueda	...	Captured Bandit Scout
Jun Tatara	...	1st Coolie
Yasuhisa Tsutsumi	...	Farmer in front of Gono
Atsushi Watanabe	...	Bun Vendor
Toranosuke Ogawa	...	Grandfather of Kidnapped Girl
Yu Akitsu	...	Husband in Burnt House
Isao Yamagata	...	Samurai
Sojin	...	Blind Minstrel (as Sojin Kamiyama)
Gen Shimizu	...	Samurai who kicks farmers
Keiji Sakakida	...	Gosaku
Shinpei Takagi	...	Bandit Chief
Shin Otomo	...	Bandit second-in-command
Toshio Takahara	...	Samurai with gun (as Shuno Takahara)
Hiroshi Sugi	...	Tea Shop Owner
Miki Hayashi
Sachio Sakai	...	2nd Coolie
Akira Tani	...	Bandit
Sokichi Maki	...	Strong-looking Samurai
Haruo Nakajima	...	Bandit
Ichirô Chiba	...	Buddhist Priest
Noriko Sengoku	...	Wife of Gono Family
Fumiko Honma	...	Woman Farmer
Masanobu Ôkubo	...	Samurai
Etsuro Nishijo	...	Samurai
Etsuryo Saijo
Minoru Ito	...	Samurai
Hideo Shibuya
Kiyoshi Kamoda	...	Samurai
Senkichi Ômura	...	Bandit who escapes
Takashi Narita	...	Bandit who escapes
Shoichi Hirose	...	Bandit
Koji Uno	...	Bandit
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hiroshi Agetsu	...	Gono Husband
Ryutaro Amami	...	Bandit
Goro Amano	...	Farmer
Shizuko Hogashi	...	Farmer's Wife
Tazue Ichimanji	...	Woman Farmer
Toku Ihara	...	Farmer
Kaneo Ikeda	...	Samurai
Kazuo Imai	...	Farmer
Hisaya Ito	...	Samurai wandering through town
Koji Iwamoto	...	Farmer
Kyoichi Kamiyama	...	Farmer
Shigeo Kato	...	Farmer
Masayoshi Kawabe	...	Farmer
Michiko Kawabe	...	Farmer's Wife
Ippei Kawagoe	...	Farmer
Yoshikazu Kawamata	...	Farmer
Akira Kichoji	...	Farmer (as Akira Kichijoji)
Yayoko Kitano	...	Farmer's Wife
Fumiyoshi Kumaya	...	Ginsaku's Son
Akio Kusama	...	Bandit
Masahide Matsushita	...	Samurai
Jun Mikami	...	Bandit
Sanpei Mine	...	Farmer
Keiko Mori	...	Farmer's Wife
Kyoji Naka	...	Bandit
Eisuke Nakanishi	...	Farmer
Toshiko Nakano	...	Farmer's Wife
Junpei Natsuki	...	Farmer
Hideo Oe	...	Farmer
Yasuo Onishi	...	Farmer
Matsue Ono	...	Woman Farmer
Masako Oshiro	...	Woman Farmer
Hideo Otsuka	...	Farmer
Keiko Ozawa	...	Woman Farmer
Haruya Sakamoto	...	Samurai
Kyoro Sakurai	...	Samurai
Takeshi Seki	...	3rd Coolie
Megeru Shimoda	...	Farmer
Seiji Sunagawa	...	Bandit
Misao Suyama	...	Woman Farmer
Jiro Suzukawa	...	Farmer
Kazuo Suzuki	...	Farmer
Toriko Takahara	...	Woman Farmer
Yuko Togawa	...	Farmer's Wife
Kamayuki Tsubono	...	Bandit
Tomeko Umayato	...	Woman Farmer in front of Gono
Michiko Uwamoto	...	Farmer's Wife
Akira Yamada	...	Farmer
Tatsuya Nakadai	...	Samurai wandering through town (uncredited)
Kaneyuki Tsubono	...	Bandit (uncredited)
Ken Utsui	...	Samurai wandering throuth town (uncredited)
Ren Yamamoto	...	Farmer (uncredited)

Directed by
Akira Kurosawa

Writing credits
Akira Kurosawa		(screenplay) &
Shinobu Hashimoto		(screenplay) &
Hideo Oguni		(screenplay)

Produced by
Sôjirô Motoki	....	producer

Original Music by
Fumio Hayasaka

Cinematography by
Asakazu Nakai

Film Editing by
Akira Kurosawa

Production Design by
Takashi Matsuyama

Costume Design by
Kôhei Ezaki
Mieko Yamaguchi

Makeup Department
Midori Nakajo	....	hair stylist
Junjiro Yamada	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Hiroshi Nezu	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sakae Hirosawa	....	assistant director
Hiromichi Horikawa	....	chief assistant director
Toshi Kaneko	....	assistant director
Masaya Shimizu	....	assistant director
Yasuyoshi Tajitsu	....	assistant director

Art Department
Kôhei Ezaki	....	art consultant
Koichi Hamamura	....	property master
Yoshirô Muraki	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Ichirô Minawa	....	sound effects editor
Masanao Uehara	....	sound assistant
Fumio Yanoguchi	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Masao Fukuda	....	still photographer
Mitsuo Kaneko	....	assistant lighting technician
Shigeru Mori	....	lighting technician
Takao Saitô	....	assistant camera

Editorial Department
Hiroshi Nezu	....	editing manager

Music Department
Masaru Satô	....	assistant to composer

Other crew
Shigeru Endo	....	instructor: horseback archery
Kôhei Ezaki	....	folklore researcher
Yuji Hamada	....	accountant
Ienori Kaneko	....	archery instructor
Toshio Nakane	....	acting office
Teruyo Nogami	....	script supervisor
Takeharu Shimada	....	production assistant
Yoshio Sugino	....	swordplay instructor

Production Companies

• Toho Company

Distributors

• Toho Company (1954) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures (1956) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1972) (USA) (TV) (US network premiere)
• AVCO Embassy Pictures (1982) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Films Incorporated (1982) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Janus Films (1982) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Landmark Films (1982) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Embassy Home Entertainment (1987) (USA) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (1989) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Criterion Collection, The (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Criterion Collection, The (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Cowboy Pictures (2002) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Toho Company (2002) (Japan) (DVD)
• Shoval Film Production (2003) (Israel) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Bright Angel Distribution (2004) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Madman Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (DVD)
• Total Film Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Total Film Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Nihon Eiga Satellite Broadcasting (2007) (Japan) (TV)
• Asociace Ceských Filmových Klubu (ACFK) (2009) (Czech Republic) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Atlantic Film (2002) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Cinédis (1955) (France) (theatrical)
• Jaguar Film (1965) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Rosenbergs Filmbyrå (1965) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Studio 43 (????) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI) (2002) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Television och Smalfilm (1965) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Sandrews (2007) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Tocantins (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Toho Video (1996) (Japan) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Toho Genzosho  video editing

Also Known As:

Seven Samurai (UK) (USA)
Shichi-nin no samurai (Japan) (alternative transliteration)
Les sept samouraïs (Belgium: French title) (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Die sieben Samurai (Switzerland: German title) (West Germany) [de]
Los siete samuráis (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Os sete Samurais (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
A hét szamuráj (Hungary) [hu]
De sju samurajerna (Sweden) [sv]
De syv samuraier (Denmark) [da]
De zeven samouraï's (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]
I sette samurai (Italy) [it]
Los siete Samurais (International: Spanish title) [es]
Los siete samurai (Venezuela) [es]
Los siete samurais (Mexico) (TV title) [es]
Oi epta samurai (Greece) (festival title) [el]
Sedam samuraja (Serbia) [sr]
Sedm samuraju (Czechoslovakia: Czech title) [cs]
Seitsemän samuraita (Finland) [fi]
Siedmiu samurajów (Poland) [pl]

Runtime:

160 min (international version) | Argentina:163 min | Japan:206 min (initial release) | 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:

Toho pulled the plug on the project several times when it ran over budget, forcing director Akira Kurosawa to go back and personally argue with the board of directors who were convinced they were making a flop.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When the samurai are giving battle advice to the peasants, who sit around them forming a circle, the camera does a rather wide circle shot of them. You can see the dolly track behind the seated peasants.

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 Russell (2007)

Required Viewing

The archetypal action film, Seven Samurai is also one of the richest works to ever be committed to celluloid. Each of its characters is extraordinarily realized; each has his or her own arc, his or her own vital part to play in the film's slow progression towards its dramatic finale. Typically, Kurosawa has put the film together using an exceeding degree of artistry; each and every shot, each action sequence, is exquisitely composed; and yet none seems contrived or out-of-place within the overall fabric of the work. Everything is beautifully conceived and in focus, both literally and figuratively.

When watching Seven Samurai, movie lovers will immediately recognize that several of its key elements can be readily detected in countless similar films made during the last half-century. The audition scenes, in which several samurai are recruited for the difficult task of defending a farming town from a group of bandits, strikes a particularly familiar chord, as do those showing the samurai training the lowly villagers to fight and use weapons. Indeed, the theme of a highly experienced group of "tough guys" taking up the cause of the disenfranchised has become something of an action film cliche, portions of which echo throughout the American western, as well as its progeny (think The Dirty Dozen, The Road Warrior or even television's The A Team).

But what really stands out in Seven Samurai are its characters. They run the gamut, from elder teacher to hopeful youth, stoic warrior to undisciplined brigand. Kurosawa even finds room for a youthful romance, not to mention the mix of poor and beleaguered townspeople he depicts within the setting of the town. Perhaps its no wonder the enemy bandits are virtually faceless-- there is so much conflict and passion present within the group of protagonists, the villains need not be more than a vague threat.

Through it all Kurosawa never forgets who these people are and where they stand in comparison to one another. Obviously, the samurai are, for the most part, samurai, while the townspeople are merely peasants, lacking even in funds to pay their noble defenders. Kurosawa deftly illustrates these class differences by having one peasant fear horribly for the honor of his daughter, who he suspects will be lured by the wealth of the samurai; and also by giving us one samurai who is no samurai at all, but merely a peasant himself whose own farming village was in his youth destroyed by marauding warriors. The film thus wraps a a portrait of class conflict in a cloak of solidarity. The samurai unite to defend the poor peasants, but the ending is not exactly happy for them. Nor are the peasants completely honorable. We learn, for instance, that they have in the past murdered defeated samurai and looted their bodies, and it becomes apparent late in the film that their claims of poverty are perhaps not as truthful as at first seemed apparent.

So why do the samurai defend them so valiantly? For honor? For love of adventure? The answer to this question is left intentionally vague; it is up to each viewer to draw his or her own conclusions. It is to the film's credit that it forces such questions upon us while never allowing them to cause the motivations of its characters to seem untrue.

Modern viewers will find the action sequences of Seven Samurai to be restrained. There are, for instance, no "Gladiator" or "Braveheart" moments in which limbs are visibly hacked off, blood flies and speakers pound with booming audio. But the action is wonderfully filmed and there is some early use of slow motion to accentuate key moments. The 3 1/2 hour running time may also deter some, but I find the length to be one of the film's charms; it takes its dear sweet time in exposing its riches, and no single moment feels underdeveloped or awkward. Don't miss it.

10/10