Kikuchiyo, a man who carries a family scroll that he claims makes him a samurai, follows the group despite attempts to drive him away. Although inexperienced, Katsushirō is selected because time is short. He recruits old friend Shichirōji and, with Katsushirō's assistance, three other samurai: the friendly, wily Gorobei the good-willed Heihachi and Kyūzō, a taciturn master swordsman whom Katsushirō regards with awe. The villagers then ask for help, and after initial reluctance, Kambei agrees. A young samurai named Katsushirō asks to become Kambei's disciple. Since they have no money, Gisaku tells them to find hungry samurai.Īfter little success, the group watch Kambei, an aging but experienced rōnin, rescue a young boy who had been taken hostage by a thief. He declares they should hire samurai to defend the village. Three farmers ask Gisaku, the village elder and miller, for advice. It has remained highly influential, often seen as one of the most "remade, reworked, referenced" films in cinemaīandits approach a mountain village, but their chief decides to spare it until after the harvest because they had raided it before. 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 follows the story of a village of farmers that hire seven ronin (masterless samurai) to combat bandits who will return after the harvest to steal their crops. The story takes place in 1586 during the Sengoku Period of Japanese history. Is a 1954 Japanese epic historical adventure drama film co-written, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa. Adaptations: The Magnificent Seven (1960), Samurai 7 (2004)