A 1954 Akira Kurosawa epic about a village that hires seven ronin to defend it from bandits, celebrated for pioneering the multi-camera, telephoto-lens technique for shooting action that later filmmakers built on for decades. Its influence runs directly through the 1960 American remake The Magnificent Seven and, according to scholar David Desser, through more remakes, reworkings and references than almost any other film in cinema history.
Facts
Classification
Original Language Release Year FAQs
How long is Seven Samurai and was it always shown at that length?
It ran 207 minutes at release and was later cut to 160 minutes for general release.
Seven Samurai was released in Japan with a runtime of 207 minutes, which at the time made it the longest Japanese film ever produced. The full-length roadshow version was later cut to 160 minutes for general release, so audiences who saw the shorter cut did not see the film at the length Akira Kurosawa first released.
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Sources
1. Wikidata: Seven Samurai
Wikidata Q189540, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source 2. Seven Samurai (Wikipedia)
Lead section
Seven Samurai (Japanese: 七人の侍, Hepburn: Shichinin no Samurai) is a 1954 Japanese epic jidaigeki film directed by Akira Kurosawa from a screenplay co-written with Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni.
Lead, silver-lion
At Venice, Kurosawa won the Silver Lion for direction, and the film was distributed in the United States by Columbia Pictures in November 1956, where it was recut again.
View the Source3. Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationLegacy section
The film is influential among western filmmakers, particularly for its use of a multi-camera setup for shooting action.
Legacy section, quoting David Desser
The film is one of the 'most oft remade, reworked, referenced films in all of cinema history.'
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