七人の侍 Print

Kambei Shimada: You embarrass me. You're overestimating me. Listen, I'm not a man with any special skill, but I've had plenty of experience in battles; losing battles, all of them. In short, that's all I am. Drop such an idea for your own good. Katsushiro: No Sir, my decision has been made. I'll follow you sir. Kambei Shimada: I forbid it. I can't afford to take a kid with me. Kambei Shimada: It's impossible. Katsushiro: Sir! Why not arm them with...? Kambei Shimada: I thought of that, too. Katsushiro: But sir. Kambei Shimada: [pointedly] This would not be a game. A band of forty bandits! Two or three "samurai" could accomplish nothing. Defense is harder than offense. Mountains in the back of the village? Rikichi: Yes! Kambei Shimada: Can horses get over them? Rikichi: Yes! Kambei Shimada: Fields in front. The village is wide open to horsemen... until the fields are flooded. One guard for each direction takes four. Two more as a reserve. You'll need at least... seven, including me. Kikuchiyo: [in a drunken stupor] You again. I see that bald head of yours in my dreams. You had the nerve to ask me if I was a samurai. Didn't you, huh? I never forget a face. Look here, though I look like hell, I'm a real samurai, all right. Here. I got something for you. Damn jerks. Looky here. [He clumsily fumbles around in his robe, and presents a scroll from inside it] Kikuchiyo: There, just you look at this. It's been handed down in my family for generations and generations. And you asked me if I were a samurai! You jerks. Look at this, just look at this! That's me right there. [Kikuchiyo unrolls it and points randomly to a part of the scroll] Kambei Shimada: Kikuchiyo, born on 17 February, the Second Year of Tensho. [He suddenly bursts out laughing] Kikuchiyo: What's so damn funny? Kambei Shimada: You don't look thirteen! Kikuchiyo: Goddamn samurai... [He falls asleep on the straw and starts snoring loudly] Katsushiro: Is he really a samurai? Kambei Shimada: Only in his mind. Gorobei Katayama: How did you fare? Kambei Shimada: We let a good fish get away. An excellent swordsman. Gorobei Katayama: [laughs] They say the fish that gets away looks bigger than it really is. Kyuzo: Don't you see? A real sword will kill you. Kikuchiyo: Use your balls, if you've got any! Heihachi Hayashida: Haven't you ever seen anyone cut firewood before? Gorobei Katayama: You seem to enjoy it. Heihachi Hayashida: That's just the way I am. Yah! [he chops another log] Gorobei Katayama: You're good! Heihachi Hayashida: Not really. It's a lot harder than killing enemies. Yah! [he splits another log] Gorobei Katayama: Have you killed many? Heihachi Hayashida: Since it's impossible to kill them all - yah! [he splits another log] Heihachi Hayashida: I usually run away. Gorobei Katayama: A splendid principle. Heihachi Hayashida: Thank you. Yah! Heihachi Hayashida: I'm Heihachi Hayashida, a fencer of the Wood Cutting School. Kikuchiyo: You there, chewing your cud. Can you cut that out? This isn't a cow shed! Shichiroji: Manzo, don't be angry. When the dawn threatens our very lives, the weight of it makes us all a little reckless. Kikuchiyo: What do you think of farmers? You think they're saints? Hah! They're foxy beasts! They say, "We've got no rice, we've no wheat. We've got nothing!" But they have! They have everything! Dig under the floors! Or search the barns! You'll find plenty! Beans, salt, rice, sake! Look in the valleys, they've got hidden warehouses! They pose as saints but are full of lies! If they smell a battle, they hunt the defeated! They're nothing but stingy, greedy, blubbering, foxy, and mean! God damn it all! [He hurls a handful of arrows into the wall] Kikuchiyo: But then who made them such beasts? You did! You samurai did it! You burn their villages! Destroy their farms! Steal their food! Force them to labour! Take their women! And kill them if they resist! So what should farmers do? [Kikuchiyo sinks to his knees, and begins to sob uncontrollably] Kikuchiyo: Damn... damn... damn... damn... [Kambei unfolds his arms and looks down at the palms of his hands] Kambei Shimada: [Quietly, after a long pause] You were the son of a farmer, weren't you? Kambei Shimada: Go to the north. The decisive battle will be fought there. Gorobei Katayama: Why didn't you build a fence there? Kambei Shimada: A good fort needs a gap. The enemy must be lured in. So we can attack them. If we only defend, we lose the war. Kambei Shimada: Train yourself, distinguish yourself in war... But time flies. Before your dream materializes, you get gray hair. By that time your parents and friends are dead and gone. Kambei Shimada: Danger always strikes when everything seems fine. Gisaku: Find hungry samurai. Even bears come down from the mountains when they are hungry. Kambei Shimada: You said he'd be a treasure in hard times. The hard times have only just begun. Kambei Shimada: This is the nature of war: By protecting others, you save yourselves. If you only think of yourself, you'll only destroy yourself. from Seven Samurai (1954) Starring Mifune Toshirō (High and Low), Shimura Takashi (The Hidden Fortress), Katō Daisuke (Rashomon), Miyaguchi Seiji (Ikiru), Inaba Yoshio (Throne of Blood), and Chiaki Minoru (Stray Dog). Written and Directed by the Man himself Kurosawa Akira (Dreams). Seven Samurai (Japanese: 七人の侍, Hepburn: Shichinin no Samurai) is a 1954 Japanese epic samurai drama film co-written, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The story takes place in 1586 during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. It follows the story of a village of farmers that hire seven rōnin (masterless samurai) to combat bandits who will return after the harvest to steal their crops. Since its release, Seven Samurai has consistently ranked highly in critics' lists of the greatest films, such as the BFI's Sight & Sound and Rotten Tomatoes polls. It was also voted the greatest foreign-language film in BBC's 2018 international critics' poll. It has remained highly influential, often seen as one of the most "remade, reworked, referenced" films in cinema. Akira Kurosawa had originally wanted to direct a film about a single day in the life of a samurai. Later, in the course of his research, he discovered a story about samurai defending farmers. According to actor Toshiro Mifune, the film was originally going to be called Six Samurai, with Mifune playing the role of Kyuzo. During the six-week scriptwriting process, Kurosawa and his screenwriters realized that "six sober samurai were a bore—they needed a character that was more off-the-wall". Kurosawa recast Mifune as Kikuchiyo and gave him creative license to improvise actions in his performance. Long before it was released, the film had already become a topic of wide discussion. After three months of pre-production it had 148 shooting days spread out over a year—four times the span covered in the original budget, which eventually came to almost half a million dollars. Toho Studios closed down production at least twice. Each time, Kurosawa calmly went fishing, reasoning that the studio had already heavily invested in the production and would allow him to complete the picture. The film's final battle scene, originally scheduled to be shot at the end of summer, was shot in February in near-freezing temperatures. Mifune later recalled that he had never been so cold in his life. Source: Wikipedia