From one of the top directors in cinema, Akira Kurosawa, Seven Samurai is a classic among classics.
An historical period drama, a genre known as jidaigeki in Japan, the story takes place during the Warring States period of the country. The Warring States period spanned more than one hundred years beginning in 1467 and lasting until 1603. It was a time marked by continuous violence as neighboring shogunates sent their samurai armies to battle for conquest over greater pieces of land and increased political power.
Seven Samurai takes place in the autumn years of that period, specifically 1587. As a small mountain village is tormented by bandits the village farmers send out a call for help in hopes of hiring samurai to protect them. Low on resources and eating nothing more than millet the farmers happen across a wandering ronin, played by Takashi Shimura. With the ronin’s help they are soon able to hire the titular seven samurai.
The main crux of the story centers on the samurai’s efforts to build up the defenses of the village and getting the farmers into fighting shape in order to defend themselves. The story proved popular enough, and the film was such a hit at the box office, that it has been remade several times over the years most notably in 1960 as The Magnificent Seven along with that films subsequent sequels and remake in 2016 as well as the Star Wars inspired Roger Corman flick, Battle Beyond the Stars, featuring Robert Vaughn essentially replaying his role from The Magnificent Seven.
Seven Samurai is written and directed by Akira Kurosawa, oft cited as Japan’s greatest director and a titan of world cinema. Kurosawa was known for his many period films, from Rashomon, Yojimbo, Dersu Uzala, and reworkings of Shakespeare plays into the films Throne of Blood and Ran. It is debatable as to which film is Kurosawa’s best, Seven Samurai is my choice for this honor.
Kurosawa was assisted in writing the screenplay by Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni. The latter’s other works may be known to fans of genre films as he also wrote screenplays for the Japanese science fiction film Warning from Space and the American-Japan coproduction of the war film Tora! Tora! Tora! depicting the World War 2 attack on Pearl Harbor.
Producer for Seven Samurai, Sōjirō Motoki, starting in the 1960’s became a director for mostly Japanese pink films, an erotic genre that would occasionally veer into pornography.
Cinematography for the film was done by Asakazu Nakai who would go on to become the oldest Academy Award nominee in the cinematography category for his work on Kurosawa’s 1985 Shakespeare inspired samurai epic, Ran.
Seven Samurai was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Art Direction for the work of production designer Sō Matsuyama, who was nominated previously for Kurosawa’s 1950 drama, Rashomon, and Best Costume Design for the work of Kôhei Ezaki and Mieko Yamaguchi.
Star of Seven Samurai, Takashi Shimura, that same year starred in director Ishirō Honda’s Godzilla and went on to appear in the first few films in that series as well as in Mothra. Shimura ultimately acted in 21 of Akira Kurosawa’s films making him the actor to work most with the prolific director. His castmate in Seven Samurai, Toshiro Mifune, is more recognized as working with Kurosawa taking lead roles in several classic films from Rashomon to The Hidden Fortress as well as international films like the Formula One racing film Grand Prix and the Charles Bronson western Red Sun.