Shichinin no samurai, 1954

Seven Samurai (Japanese: 七人の侍, Hepburn: Shichinin no Samurai) is a 1954 Japanese epic samurai drama film co-written, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The story takes place in 1586[3] during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. It follows the story of a village of desperate farmers who hire seven rōnin (masterless samurai) to combat bandits who will return after the harvest to steal their crops.

At the time, the film was the most expensive film made in Japan.[4] It took a year to shoot and faced many difficulties.[4] It was the second-highest grossing domestic film in Japan in 1954.[4] Many reviews compared the film to westerns.[4]

Since its release, Seven Samurai has consistently ranked highly in critics' lists of the greatest films, such as the BFI's Sight & Sound and Rotten Tomatoes polls.[5][6][7][8] It was also voted the greatest foreign-language film in BBC's 2018 international critics' poll.[9] It has remained highly influential, often seen as one of the most "remade, reworked, referenced" films in cinema.

Plot

In 1587, a bandit gang discusses raiding a mountain village, but their chief decides to wait until after the harvest. The villagers overhear this and turn to Gisaku, the village elder and miller, who declares that they should hire samurai to protect them. Since they have no money and can only offer food as payment, Gisaku advises them to find hungry samurai.

Several villagers go into town and eventually find Kambei, an aging but experienced rōnin, whom they see rescuing a young boy held hostage by a cornered thief. A young samurai named Katsushirō asks to become Kambei's disciple. The villagers ask for Kambei's help, and though initially reluctant, he agrees. He then recruits his old comrade-in-arms Shichirōji, along with Gorobei, Heihachi, and Kyūzō, a taciturn master swordsman whom Katsushirō regards with awe. Kikuchiyo, a wild and eccentric rōnin, is also accepted despite attempts to drive him away.

Upon arrival, the samurai find the villagers cowering in their homes, refusing to greet them. Insulted, Kikuchiyo rings the village alarm, prompting the villagers to come out and beg for protection. Slowly, the samurai and farmers learn to trust each other. Katsushirō meets Shino, a farmer's daughter whose father has disguised her as a boy, and becomes intimate despite knowing their different social classes prohibit it. Later, the samurai are angered when Kikuchiyo brings them armor and weapons, which the villagers acquired by killing other samurai injured or fleeing from battle. Kikuchiyo angrily retorts that samurai are responsible for much of the suffering farmers endure, revealing his origin as an orphaned farmer's son. The samurai's anger turns to shame.

Kambei arms the villagers with bamboo spears, and divides them into squads to prepare defences and train. Three bandit scouts are spotted; two are killed, while the survivor reveals the location of their encampment before being slain by the villagers. The samurai burn down the camp in a pre-emptive strike. Rikichi, a troubled villager aiding the samurai, breaks down when he sees his wife, who was kidnapped and made a concubine after a previous raid. Upon seeing Rikichi, she runs back into a burning hut to her death. Heihachi is killed by a gun shot while rescuing Rikichi. The saddened villagers are inspired by Kikuchiyo, who raises a banner Heihachi made to represent the samurai and the village.

When the bandits finally arrive, they are confounded by the new fortifications, which include a moat and high wooden fences. They burn the village's outlying houses, including Gisaku's mill. Gisaku's family tries to save him when he refuses to abandon it, but all perish except a lone baby rescued by Kikuchiyo. The bandits then besiege the village, but many are killed as the defenders thwart every attack, which include cavalry charges that are allowed through a breach so that they could be ambushed.

The bandits possess three matchlock muskets. Kyūzō ventures out alone and retrieves one; an envious Kikuchiyo abandons his squad to bring back another. However, Kikuchiyo's absence allows a handful of bandits to infiltrate his post and kill several farmers, and Gorobei is slain defending his position. That night, Kambei predicts that the bandits will make one final assault due to their dwindling numbers. Meanwhile, Katsushirō and Shino's relationship is discovered by her father, who is enraged that her virginity has been taken and beats her. Kambei and the villagers intervene; Shichirōji reasons that such a coupling is normal before battle and that they should be forgiven, but the social shame is irreconcilable.

The next morning, the defenders allow the remaining bandits to enter the village and then ambush them. As the battle winds down, the bandit chief hides in the women's hut armed with a musket, and shoots Kyūzō dead. An enraged Kikuchiyo charges in and is shot as well, but kills the chief before dying. The remaining outlaws are slain.

In the aftermath, Kambei, Katsushirō and Shichirōji watch from the funeral mounds of their comrades as the joyful villagers sing whilst planting their new crops. Katsushirō and Shino meet one last time, but their relationship has ended. Kambei reflects to Shichirōji that it is another pyrrhic victory for the samurai: "The victory belongs to those peasants. Not to us."