The samurai movie genre is a significant part of world cinema history, as important as the cowboy Western was in 20th-Century Hollywood. Born out of the feudal warrior tradition of Japan, the history of the samurai has become much romanticized in modern pop culture. Filmmakers who grew up in the country of its origin, though, had a closer understanding of the intricacies of the samurai lifestyle.
Masters of cinema such as Akira Kurosawa and Masaki Kobayashi made great strides in cinema as a whole through their samurai films (via Screen Rant). The best of them pushed the boundaries of the cinematic medium and set new standards for cinema as a whole. They went on to influence iconic films in pop culture, from the Star Wars franchise to the most successful movies in the Western genre, with their influence extending all the way to the MCU (per Collider). Here are 7 samurai movies that changed cinema for the better.
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7 Rashomon
Daiei Film
The 1950 film Rashomon was directed by Akira Kurosawa, with the plot adapted from a short story by Ryunosuke Akutagawa titled In a Grove. The movie introduced a unique and unusual narrative technique to cinema, a trope that went on to be known as the Rashomon effect. This trope typically involves multiple characters narrating the same incident in different and often irreconcilable ways. In Rashomon, three people pose as witnesses to the murder of a samurai, with each recalling the murder differently. Rashomon was a successful experiment that proved that unreliable narrators, when written well, could make for an amazing cinematic experience.
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6 Seven Samurai
Toho
Seven Samurai can be considered one of the most influential films in world cinema. It was this film that set the stage for many other depictions of hero teams coming together to save a desolate town from marauders. The movie has also inspired many direct homages, with the most well-recognized ones being The Magnificent Seven movies from 1960 and 2016. Seven Samurai was one of the most expensive movies to make, and Kurosawa put the budget to good use by creating an epic scale of action that is considered masterful even by today’s standards. The plot synopsis of the movie is also deceptively simple — Kurosawa inserted much complexity into the framework of a simple action flick, etching out memorable characterizations and exploring themes such as class and the end of the samurai era.
5 Yojimbo
Kurosawa Production
Yojimbo maintains a direct relationship with the Western and film noir genres, in that Kurosawa was inspired to make this film based on the 1942 noir movie The Glass Key. In turn, the movie was later adapted into the iconic spaghetti Western titled A Fistful of Dollars. This movie is one of Kurosawa’s classics, starring his frequent collaborator Toshiro Mifune as a wandering ronin who finds himself in the middle of a feud between two parties, with each trying to hire him as a bodyguard. Mifune’s character in the film is considered an early model of the ‘man with no name’ character trope.
4 The Hidden Fortress
The Hidden Fortress is yet another one of Kurosawa’s films and arguably one of his most significant in terms of influence, having inspired the Star Wars saga. This movie tells the story of two peasants who take on a job to smuggle a princess and a general across a war-torn nation. George Lucas found the movie quite striking, especially Kurosawa’s decision to tell the story from the perspective of the lowliest characters. This inspired him to do the same for Star Wars, in which he chose the two droids, C-3PO and R2-D2, to shape the narrative perspective. Lucas borrowed many other creative elements from The Hidden Fortress to shape the Star Wars story, and similarities can be noted in characters and even some scenes.
3 Harakiri
Shochiku
Harakiri is considered by many to be one of the best samurai movies of all time. It was directed by Masaki Kobayashi, and presents a greatly emotive critique of the samurai code of conduct, known as Bushido. The movie begins with the appearance of an aged ronin at the estate of the proud Iyi clan. The ronin, played by Tatsuya Nakadai, requests to commit ritual suicide, or seppuku, at the manor premises. Kobayashi tells a tense and thrilling tale in this movie that is like no other, slowly revealing the ronin’s complex intentions for why he arrived at the clan’s gates.
2 Zatoichi
The Zatoichi film franchise is a quintessential part of the samurai movie genre, and includes a total of 26 movies and 100 television series episodes made from 1962 to 1979. The franchise follows the exploits of a blind master swordsman as he travels the country, enjoying life and inserting himself in situations in order to protect the helpless. The Zatoichi movies established one of the most recognizable action hero characters in Japanese pop culture, and the franchise continues to be a major entry point into samurai films for westerners. These films have a pitch-perfect combination of humor and captivating storytelling, and featured some of the most elegant sword fighting scenes of all time.
1 Samurai Trilogy
Toho Co. Ltd.
The Samurai trilogy refers to three movies directed by Hiroshi Inagaki that tells the story of the real-life swordsman and philosopher, Musashi Miyamoto. Mifune stars in the movies as the legendary historical figure. Each of the three movies explores a different part in the development of Miyamoto’s character, with the aid of well-crafted supporting characters who serve as deep lessons for the man. Director Inagaki was one of the pioneers of the modern samurai film, and introduced brand-new elements to the samurai genre that have become part and parcel of modern portrayals of the peerless hero. The first film in the trilogy, Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto, also won the 1955 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.
