Samurai! ...The Code According To Kurosawa
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A season of films celebrating the collaboration of Akira Kurosawa and the actor Toshiro Mifune.
As digital technology surplants celluloid, this is your last chance to see these classic films of world cinema on 35mm.
Samurai ! the word litterally means, " Those who serve ." Their code an ancient and unsparing unswerving allegiance to a single master, loyalty integrity and personal honour.
Thier lives are dedicated to a constant honing of martial skills, amd "The way of the Samurai is found in death."
Films in the Samurai! ...The Code According To Kurosawa:
05
Film: The Seven Samurai (1954)
5 May 2013, 7:30 p.m.
A village beset by bandits hire seven 'Ronin' (masterless Samurai) for protection. This is epic story tellling with sweeping action and it quickly became a model for many a Hollywood film. Come and see the original model, never bettered and awesomely filmed.
12
Film: Yojimbo (1961)
12 May 2013, 7:30 p.m.
Two criminal clans fight over a small village. Enter the 'Ronin' Yojimbo. Cunning and resourceful he sets gang against gang for his own amusement and gain. A script that is bleak brutal and cynical, cut through with a layer of black humour. Another Kurosawa theme taken up and copied in the West, notably by Leone's 'Fistful of Dollars'.
19
Film: Sanjuro (1962)
19 May 2013, 7:30 p.m.
'Ronin' Sanjuro, on a whim decides to help nine earnest young Samurai save their master from the machinations and attacks of a group of evil self serving Samurai. Lighter in tone than Yojimbo, with a jaunty score and fast action captured on wide screen cinematography, the movie comes to an end with jaw dropping change of tone.
26
Film: The Hidden Fortress ( 1958)
26 May 2013, 7:30 p.m.
Two peasants are conned by a princess, who has disguised her identity, into helping her and her general take gold back to her clan though a country devastated by a recent war. Also had a notable influence on George Lucas' Star Wars,