SEVEN SAMURAI1954
Seven Samurai
Movie Rating
MOVIE RATING
Average Rating: 5.0 (out of 5) (83 votes cast)
Source of Film
SOURCE OF FILM
Seven Samurai
screenplay by Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998), Shinobu Hashimoto (1918- ) and Hideo Oguni (1904-1996).
Seven Samurai was Kurosawa's first foray into the samurai genre and is based upon a story he came across about samurai defending farmers while doing his period research. The script originally called for six samurai, but was re-written to enliven the tale by adding a prankster - the ex-farmer posing as a samurai - played by Toshiro Mifune.
Hashimoto had been co-writing with Kurosawa since Rashomon (1950) and Oguni, already a veteran screenwriter with more than 60 screenplays to his credit, joined the writing team for Ikiru (1952). Seven Samurai was the team's second writing effort.
Director Detail
DIRECTOR DETAIL
- Akira Kurosawa
- Photo Chemical Laboratories (later incorporated into Toho)
- (1936-1937)
- Toho
- (1938-1947)
- Daiei
- (1948-1951)
- Toho
- (1952-1956)
- Kurosawa Productions
- (1957-1998)
Film Synopsis
RUNTIME & SYNOPSIS
3 hours, 27 minutes
Akira Kurosawa's homeric story of a band of samurai that defends a small village against marauders in the waning days of the feudal warlord era is not only a genre classic, but also influenced many Westerns decades later.
Film Comments
FILM COMMENTS
Film Awards
FILM AWARDS
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
OSCAR NOMINEE
Art Direction (Black-and-White)
- Takashi Matsuyama
- Costume Design
- (Black-and-White)
- Kohei Ezaki
Mainichi Film Concours
NOMINEE
WINNER
Supporting Actor
- Seiji Miyaguchi
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
BAFTA NOMINEE
Film from Any Source- Toho
- Foreign Actor
- Takashi Shimura
- Foreign Actor
- Toshiro Mifune
MPAA Rating
MPAA RATING
No rating
Box Office Ranking
BOX OFFICE RANKING
- 1954 Domestic Box Office Rank: #3
Theatrical Revenues
GROSS
- (Adjusted Gross in $millions)
- Domestic Theatrical Release: $41.9
Original Film Distributor
DISTRIBUTOR
Location Filming
LOCATION
- Izu Peninsula, Shizuoka, Japan
Toho executives were so furious with Kurosawa for his cost overruns (400% of budget) and shooting time (148 days) that they twice shut down production. An avid fisherman, Kurosawa would disappear to his favorite stream until the studio relented and allowed him to continue filming.