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Sunday, August 10TH, 2025

(note screening will start at 6pm)

Seven Samurai

One of the most influential, celebrated, venerated, and outright loved films in cinematic history, Seven Samurai’s actual completion is one of life’s miracles. Director Akira Kurosawa’s relentless pursuit of historical accuracy down to the tiniest detail tripled—nearly quadrupling—the original budget. He insisted on building an entire village on location rather than the usual soundstage because: “the quality of the set influences the quality of the actors' performances…It restricts the shooting, but encourages the feeling of authenticity.” 

Rather than one camera, the director employed three, including the relatively new telephoto, arguing: “If I had filmed it in the traditional shot-by-shot method, there was no guarantee that any action could be repeated in the same way twice.”

The weather fought him. Frequently, exhaustion overcame him. He had trouble finding enough horses. Twice during production, budget overruns led the producers at Toho to shut down production and seriously consider firing Kurosawa. The original 148-day shooting schedule ballooned into a year.  The delays caused the climactic battle scene, planned for the summer, to be filmed in snow and freezing weather, threatening the health and safety of both cast and crew. 

Despite everything, production of Seven Samurai eventually wrapped with a final price tag five times the average Japanese film. 

The movie’s premise is simple: In 16th-century Japan, a village of peasant farmers, tired of being harassed and robbed by bandits, resolve to hire ronin (masterless samurai) to defend their harvest and themselves. The peasants can only offer food; they have no money. A motley crew of seven who are willing to work for food is assembled. None are the lone, invincible samurai warrior of legend, but ordinary individuals who struggle between their all-too-human foibles and the samurai code of honor.

The resulting film, an epic saga that transcends time and location, will be screened in all its recently restored 4K glory.  (bc)

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