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Deptford Cinema's Kurosawa/Mifune -The Samurai Films Season (12 Deptford Cinema’s Kurosawa/Mifune -The Samurai Films Season (12 February – 11 April Deptford Cinema pays tribute in 2017 to Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa- one of the world’s greatest directors, who helped catapult Japanese cinema onto the global stage. Though he turned his hand to many genres over his long career, it is undeniably his period action films, or "jidaigeki", that have left the greatest mark on world cinema. His epic tales of samurais, warlords and thieves drew not only from his country's history, but from Western pop culture, and likewise found willing audiences back across the oceans. Before long, directors like Sergio Leone and George Lucas were drawing on Kurosawa's work for their own hit films; Lucas mined the plot of The Hidden Fortress when it came creating the story of his own 1977 sci-fi hit, Star Wars. Perhaps most famously, the iconic western The Magnificent Seven is a direct adaption of Kurosawa's Seven Samurai. Kurosawa also gifted the world one of the great director-actor collaborations, tapping the ferocious energy and charisma of star Toshirô Mifune over a dozen times. All the films in our season see Mifune in a leading role. Films in the season: Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, The Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo, Sanjuro. The cinema is situated at 39 Deptford Broadway, London SE8 4PQ. Just a few minutes walk from Deptford Bridge DLR. http://www.deptfordcinema.org/contact-us/ SEVEN SAMURAI When the residents of a small Japanese village terrorised by bandits seek protection, they turn to seven unemployed ‘ronin’ to guard and train them. Paid only in handfuls of rice, these masterless and mismatched samurai nevertheless stand their ground, even though they know that their assignment may be their last. Unanimously hailed as one of cinema’s greatest masterpieces, Seven Samurai's simple-but-compelling plot and setting, memorable characters (including Mifune as a wily peasant joining up with the samurai) and well- crafted action sequences made it a touchstone action film, and it went on to inspire countless other films and filmmakers, most notably the 1960 western The Magnificent Seven. 12 February 2017 *Doors Open 1.30pm* *Programme Start 2pm* *Age Restriction over 15 Ticket link: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/event/162543 http://www.deptfordcinema.org/ @DeptfordCinema THRONE OF BLOOD Kurosawa was fascinated by the potential of Shakespeare's plays to illuminate his own nation's complex and bloody history and his own thoughts on humanity's darker natures, and Throne of Blood was just one of many times he mined the Bard for inspiration to create a fascinating synthesis. In this re- imagining of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the magnetic Toshirô Mifune plays a samurai fated to betray his friend and master in exchange for the chance of climbing up the ladder of nobility, once he hears a mysterious omen prophesizing he will be lord of the Spider's Web Castle. This film is full of remarkable and brutal imagery, with an aesthetic influenced by the highly stylised Japanese Noh theatre. Aside from Mifune, viewers will enjoy Isuzu Yamada's striking performance as his ruthless wife. “…possibly the finest Shakespearean adaptation ever committed to the screen” – The Guardian. 28 February 2017 *Doors Open 6.30pm* *Programme Start 7pm* *Age Restriction over 15 Ticket Link: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/event/165811 http://www.deptfordcinema.org/ @DeptfordCinema THE HIDDEN FORTRESS The Hidden Fortress is a grand-scale adventure built for widescreen, and featuring the inimitable Toshiro Mifune as a general charged with guarding his defeated clan’s princess (a fierce Misa Uehara) as the two smuggle royal treasure across hostile territory with a pair of bumbling, conniving peasants in tow. If this sounds familiar at all, it is because this rip-roaring tale was a major influence on the plot of George Lucas’s Star Wars. A huge hit in its day following on from Kurosawa's acclaimed Seven Samurai, this Golden Bear Berlinale prize winner (1959 Berlin Film Festival) remains the perfect blend of wit and fairy tale action. Films in the season: Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, The Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo, Sanjuro. THE HIDDEN FORTRESS 14 March 2017 Doors Open 6.30pm Programme Start 7pm *Age Restriction over 15 Ticket Link: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/event/165818 http://www.deptfordcinema.org/ @DeptfordCinema YOJIMBO In Yojimbo, Mifune is magnetic as a wandering, wily samurai who plays off several warring factions against each other in a rural village in 18th century Japan. Stylish and darkly funny, the film influenced the likes of Sergio Leone, who remade the film into his A Fistful of Dollars western starring Clint Eastwood. Films in the season: Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, The Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo, Sanjuro. 28 March 2017 *Doors Open 6.30pm* *Programme Start 7pm* *Age Restriction over 15 Ticket link: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/event/165823 http://www.deptfordcinema.org/ @DeptfordCinema SANJURO Sanjuro is the sequel to the hugely popular and influential Kurosawa Samurai thriller Yojimbo. Kurosawa's muse and regular collaborator Toshiro Mifune returns as Sanjuro, a wandering, wily samurai in nineteenth-century Japan. This time, Sanjuro runs rings around nine naive and clean-cut samurai and corrupt local government figures. More lighthearted than its predecessor, Kurosawa and Mifune have fun parodying Japanese period action movies...until the intense finale! Films in the season: Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, The Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo, Sanjuro. 11 April 2017 *Doors Open 6.30pm* *Programme Start 7pm* *Age Restriction over 15 Ticket Link: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/event/165831 http://www.deptfordcinema.org/ @DeptfordCinema .
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