A 1954 Japanese epic samurai drama film co-written, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The film takes place in 1586 (during the Sengoku period of Japanese history) and follows the story of a village of farmers that hire seven rōnin (masterless samurai) to combat bandits who will return after the harvest to steal their crops.
Voted the greatest foreign-language film in BBC’s 2018 international critics’ poll and a whopping 207 minutes (3hrs, 27mins), ‘Seven Samurai’ (1954) is still an entertaining international masterpiece that blends action, humour and romance with cultural significance – a feat rarely attained with film and was a treat to enjoy on 35mm at its original aspect ratio.
★ ★ ★ ★ ½ ☆