THE SEVEN SAMURAI (1954) B/W 204m dir: Akira Kurosawa

w/Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Yoshio Inaba, Seiji Miyaguchi

The definitive samurai film, and a great deal more. Seven masterless samurai agree to defend a peasant village in 16th century Japan, with a few meals of rice as their only pay. The scope of ths epic seems to encompass every aspect of the human conditon, while also projecting a unique blend of warmth, humor, suspense, and horror. Universally acclaimed, this film was remade as THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN in 1960. Many thanks to TCM for airing the restored version.