- Introduction: In the early 16th Century, Japan was in the throes of civil wars... and the farmers everywhere were being crushed under the iron heels of cruel bandits.
Kikuchiyo: What do you think of farmers? You think they're saints? Hah! They're foxy beasts! They say, "We've got no rice, we've no wheat. We've got nothing!" But they have! They have everything! Dig under the floors! Or search the barns! You'll find plenty! Beans, salt, rice, sake! Look in the valleys, they've got hidden warehouses! They pose as saints but are full of lies! If they smell a battle, they hunt the defeated! They're nothing but stingy, greedy, blubbering, foxy, and mean! God damn it all! But then who made them such beasts? You did! You samurai did it! You burn their villages! Destroy their farms! Steal their food! Force them to labor! Take their women! And kill them if they resist! So what should farmers do? (begins crying) Damn...
Kambei: You were the son of a farmer, weren't you?
Kikuchiyo: You fool! Damn you! You call yourself a horse! For shame! Hey! Wait! Please! I apologize! Forgive me!
Kyuzo: Don't you see? A real sword will kill you.
Kyuzo: Killed Two.
Kambei: So. Again we are defeated. The farmers have won. Not us.
- About The Seven Samurai:
There is no element of the supernatural or fantasy in The Seven Samurai, probably the greatest movie by Akira Kurosawa, but the detail and sweep of his tale make it an almost inescapable model for any group of volunteers who fight for the good. The long sequences devoted to the actual recruitment of the seven have inspired opening chapters in many fantasy adventures; and the epic defense of the peasants' village – a task for which they have volunteered knowing they will probably not be paid, and may well die fulfilling – has served later moviemakers and fantasy writers as a model of sustained, organized bravery. - entry on Seven Samurai as a trope in the ''Encyclopedia of Fantasy''
(1997).
(1997).