Written by Chris Swan
September 19, 2024
Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai Returns to Cinemas
One of the most thrilling movie epics of all time returns to Australian cinemas with a spectacular 4K restoration to commemorate its 70th anniversary.
Now’s your chance to see Akira Kurosawa’s enduring masterpiece on the big screen like never before.
SEVEN SAMURAI tells the story of a sixteenth-century village whose desperate inhabitants hire the eponymous warriors to protect them from invading bandits. This blockbuster journey from master director Akira Kurosawa – featuring legendary actors Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura – seamlessly weaves delicate human emotions and relentless action into a rich, entertaining and unforgettable tale of courage and hope.
To help commemorate this legendary classic’s return to the big screen, a special 16-page souvenir booklet will be available at select cinemas, while stock lasts.
Featuring an introduction by renowned film critic David Stratton, production history, biography and more, this collector’s item gives insight into the enduring legacy and supreme craft behind Akira Kurosawa’s beloved film.
This special collectible booklet is only available for a limited time, and available at select cinemas with the purchase of a ticket to SEVEN SAMURAI. Find participating cinemas and session times via the Madman website.
In addition to the SEVEN SAMURAI, a collection of Akira Kurosawa classics are also returning to cinemas in new 2K and 4K restorations.
Rashomon (1950) - 2K Remaster
A riveting psychological thriller that investigates the nature of truth and the meaning of justice, RASHOMON is widely considered one of the greatest films ever made.
Four people give different accounts of a man’s murder and the rape of his wife, which director Akira Kurosawa presents with striking imagery and an ingenious use of flashbacks. This eloquent masterwork and international sensation revolutionized film language and introduced Japanese cinema—and a commanding new star by the name of Toshiro Mifune—to the Western world.
Winner of the Golden Lion at the 1951 Venice Film Festival and recipient of an honorary Academy Award (which would later become the prize for Best Foreign Language Film), RASHOMON helped introduce Japanese cinema to a western audience and heralded Kurosawa as a revolutionary new voice in the medium.
Ikiru (1952) - 4K Remaster
One of the greatest achievements by Akira Kurosawa, IKIRU shows the director at his most compassionate—affirming life through an exploration of death.
Takashi Shimura beautifully portrays Kanji Watanabe, an aging bureaucrat with stomach cancer who is impelled to find meaning in his final days. Presented in a radically conceived two-part structure and shot with a perceptive, humanistic clarity of vision, IKIRU is a multifaceted look at what it means to be alive.
Remade in 2022 as Living, featuring an Oscar nominated performance by Bill Nighy, IKIRU is considered by many to be amongst Kurosawa’s best films. The film is a powerful indictment of official bureaucracy and our understanding of the joy of being alive.
Throne of Blood- (I1957) - 4K Remaster
A vivid, visceral Macbeth adaptation, THRONE OF BLOOD, directed by Akira Kurosawa, sets Shakespeare’s definitive tale of ambition and duplicity in a ghostly, fog-enshrouded landscape in feudal Japan.
As a hardened warrior who rises savagely to power, Toshiro Mifune gives a remarkable, animalistic performance, as does Isuzu Yamada as his ruthless wife. THRONE OF BLOOD fuses classical western tragedy with formal elements taken from Noh theatre to create an unforgettable cinematic experience.
THRONE OF BLOOD is Kurosawa’s third adaptation of a western literary classic (The Idiot (1951) was based on a story by Dostoevsky, and The Lower Depths (1957) a Maxim Gorky play), it also marks his first reimagining of the work of William Shakespeare, followed by The Bad Sleep Well (1960), which was loosely inspired by Hamlet, and Ran (1985) which was based on King Lear.
The Hidden Fortress (1958) - 4K Remaster
A grand-scale adventure as only Akira Kurosawa could make one, THE HIDDEN FORTRESS stars the inimitable Toshiro Mifune as a general charged with guarding his defeated clan’s princess (a fierce Misa Uehara) as the two smuggle royal treasure across hostile territory.
Accompanying them are a pair of bumbling, conniving peasants who may or may not be their friends. This rip-roaring ride is among the director’s most beloved films and was a primary influence on George Lucas’s Star Wars. THE HIDDEN FORTRESS delivers Kurosawa’s trademark deft blend of wry humour, breathtaking action, and compassionate humanity.
Yojimbo (1961) - 4k Remaster
The incomparable Toshiro Mifune stars in Akira Kurosawa’s visually stunning and darkly comic YOJIMBO.
To rid a terror-stricken village of corruption, wily masterless samurai Sanjuro turns a range war between two evil clans to his own advantage. Remade twice as A Fistful of Dollars by Sergio Leone and Last Man Standing by Walter Hill, this exhilarating genre-twister remains one of the most influential and entertaining films of all time.
Sanjuro (1962) - 4K Remaster
Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Akira Kurosawa’s tightly paced, beautifully composed SANJURO.
In this sly companion piece to Yojimbo, jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan’s evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a “proper” samurai on its ear. Less brazen in tone than its predecessor but equally entertaining, this classic character’s return is a masterpiece in its own right.
High and Low (1963) - 4K Remaster
Toshiro Mifune is unforgettable as Kingo Gondo, a wealthy industrialist whose family becomes the target of a cold-blooded kidnapper in HIGH AND LOW, the highly influential domestic drama and police procedural from director Akira Kurosawa.
Adapting Ed McBain’s detective novel King’s Ransom, Kurosawa moves effortlessly from compelling race-against-time thriller to exacting social commentary, creating a diabolical treatise on contemporary Japanese society. HIGH AND LOW is a tightly directed and tense film noir that takes us deep into the insufferable heat and seedy, heroin-addicted underworld of postwar Tokyo.
Spike Lee’s forthcoming remake sees Oscar winner Denzel Washington stepping into the role originated by Mifune.
Red Beard (1965) - 2K Remaster
A testament to the goodness of humankind, Akira Kurosawa’s RED BEARD chronicles the tumultuous relationship between an arrogant young doctor and a compassionate clinic director.
Toshiro Mifune, in his last role for Kurosawa, gives a powerhouse performance as the dignified yet empathic director who guides his pupil to maturity, teaching the embittered intern to appreciate the lives of his destitute patients. Perfectly capturing the look and feel of 19th-century Japan, Kurosawa weaves a fascinating tapestry of time, place, and emotion.
To find participating cinemas, and where you can collect a commemorative 16-page SEVEN SAMURAI 70th anniversary booklet, head to the Madman website.
