SEVEN SAMURAI

Fearing the return of bandits, peasants from a small village settlement go looking for help in KUROSAWA Akira’s 1954 classic SEVEN SAMURAI with its tale of feudal class and warfare in medieval Japan. With little food, the peasants struggle to find anyone who will help until they come across SHIMADA Kanbei, an elder swordsman wandering the land offering his services for free and a cast of other carefree fighters all searching for purpose. Gorobei, Heihachi and Shichiroji are friends and fellow soldiers, while the young impressionable Katsushiro and the enigmatic Kyuzo are matched only by the boisterous outcast Kikuchiyo played by MIFUNE Toshiro . The seven return to find a village on its last legs, still bearing the scars of previous raids. As they prepare for the climactic battle,this ragtag group slowly provides the hungry villagers with hope. But hope can’t replace the bitterness and anger lingering throughout the village. Awarded the Silver Lion at the 15th Venice International Film Festival in 1954 and screened as part of Cannes Classics selection at the Cannes Film Festival in 2024, SEVEN SAMURAI is a tale for the ages where lingering divisions are as thick as blood. Their resistance is a reminder that in war there are no winners, only those who manage to survive.