Kurosawa Samurai Collection

Kurosawa fans rejoice! This amazing Blu-ray edition box set contains five of the very best from the master director of Japanese cinema, plus a whole host of exciting Special Features!

THE SEVEN SAMURAI (1954) is an undisputed classic, and the inspiration for the equally successful 1960 Western THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN. The Seven Samurai, set in 1587 Japan, concerns a group of warriors who all broke lose from their masters. When villagers are harassed by marauding bandits who threaten to steal from them after the harvest, the village elder decides that it’s time to hire samurai. However, since the villagers are poor they can merely offer rice for payment, so they are challenged to find hungry samurai who have no master. Lead by top dog samurai Kambei (Takashi Shimura) and his five fellow warriors, they accept the proposition and arrive in the village. They are joined by wannabe-samurai Kikuchiyo (Toshiro Mifune), who is in fact not a warrior at all but the son of a farmer albeit with grand ambitions, and someone who identifies with the plight of the farmers. After a ropey start during which villagers and warriors distrust each other at first, the bond gradually becomes stronger and they join forces against the bandits.

THRONE OF BLOOD (1957) is Kurosawa’s innovative take on Shakespeare’s MACBETH, with the action transferred to feudal Japan and rendered through stylistic elements of the traditional Japanese Noh theatre. The ever-reliable Toshiro Mifune plays samurai warrior Taketoki Washizu (Macbeth), who upon an encounter with a creepy looking spirit in an equally creepy looking forest, is urged to murder his lord Odagura (Takashi Shimura) and his best friend Yoshiaki Miki (Minoru Chiaki) – the two Macduff and Banquo characters respectively. Yes, we also have a Lady Macbeth character - Lady Asaji Washizu – played by Isuzu Yamada. Despite some slight alterations, the main plot by and large remains faithful to Shakespeare. The atmospheric b/w photography is particularly haunting, with lots of eerie mist throughout. The climax with its ‘moving forest’ and Washizu dying under a hail of arrows is a powerful image not easily forgotten!

THE HIDDEN FORTRESS (1958) is another Kurosawa film which inspired another cult classic, namely George Lucas’ STAR WARS. Winner of the Best Director Award at the 1959 Berlin Film Festival, ‘The Hidden Fortress’ is once again set in medieval Japan and its story is told from the viewpoint of two peasants (who also happen to be part of the main characters), namely Matahichi (Kamatari Fujiwara) and Tahei (Minoru Chaiki). At first being fired from a fighting clan for being late, they are then mistaken for soldiers of the defeated clan, do a runner, are re-captured and sentenced to dig for gold in the Akizuki Castle with other prisoners. After escaping again, the bumbling two idiots find gold marked with the Akizuki crest inside some log wood, and immediately set out to collect more wood along the river in the hope to find more gold. Soon after they are spied upon by Kurosawa regular Toshiro Mifune, here playing the part of the mysterious samurai Rokurota Makabe. Add to that Yuki Akizuki (Misa Uehara), a princess in disguise – and you begin to see a certain parallel to Star Wars. The utterly mismatched quartet try to battle their way through enemy territory, hampered by numerous obstacles. Impressive battle scenes and tense moments are interspersed with slapstick, brilliantly provided by Fujiwara and Chaiki. A ‘road movie’ of a different kind, for sure!

Now how did you guess that yet another Kurosawa classic inspired another cult movie? Indeed, Sergio Leone’s spaghetti western FOR A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS owes much to YOJIMBO (1961). In turn, Kurosawa stated that his ‘Yojimbo’ was inspired by ‘THE GLASS KEY’, a film noir adaptation of D. Hammett’s novel of the same name. The excellent Toshiro Mifune returns as the title character, this time playing a self-employed samurai warrior called Sanjuro the ronin, and selling his services to rivals gangs in a small village. The time is 1860, which makes a difference to the usual plot settings in a feudal Japan. When Sanjuro aka Yojimbo (meaning ‘bodyguard’ in Japanese) ends up betrayed, the plays devil’s advocate hell-bent on ensuring that the competing crime lords destroy one another. Brilliantly and atmospherically shot, the movie boasts an array of great characters and character faces - we even get a duel Wild West style, albeit carried out with swords!

In SANJURO (1962), Toshiro Mifune reprises his role as the shabby, wandering warrior, though the film, although a sequel to ‘Yojimbo’, is a spoof of the former and the period samurai genre per se. Masterly executed sword fights and the usual flair for detail one has come to expect from Kurosawa make this film another gem.

Special Features:
• All films presented in High Definition
• Original theatrical trailers
• The Art of Akira Kurosawa (2013, 49 mins): Asian-cinema expert Tony Rayns discusses Kurosawa's career and influence
• Interview with filmmaker George Lucas (2001, 8 mins)
• Interview with filmmaker Alex Cox (2003, 9 mins)
• Introduction to Sanjuro by Alex Cox (2003, 5 mins)
• Full-length audio commentary for Throne of Blood by Japanese-film expert Michael Jeck
• Full-length audio commentary for Yojimbo by film critic Philip Kemp
• Fully illustrated booklet with essays by Philip Kemp and Nigel Andrews, contemporary reviews and full film credits