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choreography and actors. Throughout the 1920s and 30s Japanese filmmakers began to explore the full potential of film as a medium, and the filmed kabuki performances were gradually replaced by narratives which were actually designed for the screen, rather than for the stage. Among these films were the early samurai films, which were popular with Japanese audiences. It would take another 20 years for the genre to be discovered by international audiences.
    Samurai films suffered greatly in the 1940s and early 50s. Interestingly, they were suppressed by both the World War Two militaristic Japanese government, who considered them a useless form of entertainment, and the American post-war occupation censors, who maintained the often violent samurai films would inspire feudalistic sentiments among the Japanese. This caused a large decline in the production of samurai films, which was only reversed when the Japanese production companies were completely released from American censorship in the early 1950s.
    One company quick to take advantage of this was Toei, an already successful studio. They began to mass produce samurai films, with great success, and were quickly copied by other studios. Unfortunately the years of suppression and censorship had left their mark on the genre. As Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto † has pointed out, many of the films made in the 1950s were extremely formulaic, and revolved around simplistic battles between good and evil. Also, they had restored the kabuki choreography for the sword-fighting scenes, resulting in very slow, dance-like choreography.
    There were, however, some excellent samurai films made during the 1950s. Many directors tried to break the predictable formula which had such a tight grip on the genre. Hiroshi Inagaki was one such director, who created his highly acclaimed Samurai Trilogy during the 1950s. Telling the exciting story of master swordsman Miyamoto Musashi (an historical figure), Inagaki’s films utilised swift and realistic choreography.
    Akira Kurosawa was another innovator, and is the master filmmaker who would have the most influence on the genre. His 1954 film, Seven Samurai , was the beginnings of the samurai film as we know it today. As Yoshimoto has pointed out, in Seven Samurai Kurosawa created a very different kind of samurai film. Working for Toho, a company which had not made many samurai films, and didn’t feel constrained by the existing formula, Kurosawa injected a level of realism and detail into his film which clearly set it apart. Character motivations were carefully thought out at the scripting stage, and every detail of the production design was researched to convey the sense of realism clearly lacking in many 1950s samurai films. The battle scenes in the film were also brutally realistic, with characters battling feverishly for their survival, rather than engaging in symbolic dance. Kurosawa continued to make high-quality samurai films throughout the 1950s, with Throne of Blood and The Hidden Fortress .
    The work of both Inagaki and Kurosawa was well received overseas, and with their films the samurai film genre found an international audience.
Seven Samurai (1954) 
     
    Japanese Title: Shichinin no samurai
    Directed by: Akira Kurosawa
    Written by: Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni, Akira Kurosawa
    Produced by: Sojiro Motoki
    Edited by: Akira Kurosawa
    Cinematography: Asakazu Nakai
    Cast: Takashi Shimura (Kambei), Toshiro Mifune (Kikuchiyo), Yoshio Inaba (Gorobei), Seiji Miyaguchi (Kyuzo), Minoru Chiaki (Heihachi), Daisuke Kato (Shichiroji), Isao Kimura (Katsushiro), Keiko Tsushima (Shino), Yukiko Shimazaki (Rikichi’s wife), Kamatari Fujiwara (Manzo), Yoshio Kosugi (Mosuke), Bokuzen Hidari (Yohei), Yoshio Tsuchiya (Rikichi), Kokuten Kodo (Gisaku)

PLOT SUMMARY
     
    Discovering that bandits will return to their village next harvest, some peasants set about hiring unemployed samurai, in the hope that they will defend their village. They find Kambei, an experienced and