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In April 1954, Japanese cinemas first screened a film that would influence generations of directors to come and invent a whole new cinematic genre.
That film was Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai. It tells the seemingly simple story of a band of brave samurai defending a peasant village from a gang of cut-throat bandits. Yet its 207 minutes are packed with innovation and experimentation never seen before in film: it’s the first time we see the “assemble the team” device on screen – the formation of a group of characters, each possessing a specific skill required to achieve a common goal. This now familiar trope has since been borrowed by many a blockbuster, from Reservoir Dogs to Ocean’s Eleven and The Avengers.
And there’s more: the first use of slow motion shots, thrillingly staged battle scenes and an inimitable lead performance by Toshiro Mifune.
To celebrate the 70th anniversary of this seminal piece of cinema, we’re looking back at the Seven Samurai posters printed over the years: from the Japanese original to the myriad international versions.
The original Japanese poster for Seven Samurai
The first Japanese poster for Kurosawa’s masterpiece is a classic of fifties graphic design. Front and centre stands Toshiro Mifune, the film’s lead and Kurosawa’s favourite actor: we see him poised for battle, katana raised, set against a background of key scenes from the picture. The poster is in colour, but the film itself is shot in black and white.
A star of the screen in fifties and sixties Japan, Mifune was actually discovered by Kurosawa while the actor was auditioning for a fellow director. Mifune didn’t get the part, but Kurosawa – who was at the audition – thought he’d be perfect for his own film, Drunken Angel. And so began Mifune’s long collaboration with Kurosawa, appearing in 16 of his films and earning the moniker “the Japanese John Wayne”.
Mifune’s expressive face features on countless Seven Samurai posters. Here are two striking examples. On the left is a poster released in 1967, while on the right is one from 1991.
The first American poster – with a different title
A major objective for Toho Company, the Japanese studio behind Seven Samurai, was box office success in the United States. But they worried the film’s length would be a turn-off in the US, so they cut 50 minutes from the original to make it more palatable for an American audience.
They also changed the title to The Magnificent Seven, as you can see from the original American poster that accompanied the film’s release in the US, 18 months after its Japanese debut.
In the sixties, American producer Lou Morheim bought the rights to remake Kurosawa’s classic. The result was John Sturges’s hit Western The Magnificent Seven. From this point on, the original film was distributed under its Japanese title, as seen in this poster for a 1982 release designed by illustrator, set designer and art director Alex Tavoularis (who, amongst other things, worked on the storyboard for Star Wars).
And this poster for Seven Samurai created by Kim Maley for a 2002 release in American cinemas. Maley, AKA Prettyco, has been designing film posters and titles since 2001.
The stunning German Seven Samurai poster by Hans Hillman
Seven Samurai was re-released for German audiences in 1962, promoted by a superb modernist poster designed by the late, great Hans Hillman.
From 1954 to 1974, Hans Hillmann designed over 150 posters for some of the best films of the era. His portfolio includes movies by the likes of Alfred Hitchcock, Sergio Leone, Orson Welles, Luis Buñuel, Pier Paolo Pasolini and – of course – Akira Kurosawa.
Hillman’s film posters were commissioned by distributor Neue Filmkunst, who allowed the artist complete creative freedom. The results were astonishing.
To see more of his work, head over to the Hans Hillmann Archive, where you’ll find some 800 images, including posters, sketches and illustrations.
Italian Seven Samurai posters
Upon its release in the West, Kurosawa’s masterpiece did not always receive the recognition it deserved. Not so in Italy, where it won a prestigious Silver Lion award at the 1954 Venice Film Festival alongside Fellini’s La Strada.
Among the many Italian admirers was Sergio Leone, creator of the spaghetti Western, who would go on to adapt a later Kurosawa film into A Fistful of Dollars.
Below are our picks of the best Italian Seven Samurai posters.
The 70th anniversary 4K restoration of Seven Samurai
To celebrate the 70th anniversary of this cinematic milestone, a restored 4K version of Seven Samurai was re-released in cinemas in a handful of countries.
Screenings in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zeeland were promoted with this comics-inspired poster.
The art was produced by world-renowned comics artist Sean Phillips, whose portfolio includes work on Sleeper, Batman, Uncanny X-Men and Marvel Zombies. The lettering was designed by Neil Kellerhouse, a graphic and poster designer who counts The Zone of Interest, The Revenant and The Social Network among his credits.
Curious and quirky Seven Samurai posters
We wrap up with some weird and wonderful Seven Samurai posters from around the world.
Two garish Argentine posters. On the left is the original poster from 1954, printed using lithography. On the right is another design, also from the fifties.
A rare Polish poster from 1960 produced by Marian Stachurski, an award-winning Polish graphic designer.
Another Polish Seven Samurai poster, this time from 1987. It was created by Andrzej Pagowski, a Polish artist renowned for his film and theatre posters. If you like his work, you can find more here.
A noteworthy French poster from 1980. Noteworthy because the French distributor decided to put out the full 207-minute cut of the film, instead of the slimmed-down version initially produced for international audiences.
Following this full-length French release, the original version began to find wider distribution in the rest of the world with subsequent theatrical releases.
Here’s a 2009 poster for a full-length theatrical release in the Czech Republic. It was designed by Czech art director Heblík Bohdan.
A German poster from 1967 with a blood-red theme.
An avant-garde Romanian poster from 1955.
A beautiful poster for the original 1954 release in Finland.
The last of our posters for Kurosawa’s classic is this unusual type-only Greek number from the sixties.
Did you enjoy our round-up of Seven Samurai posters? Will you be adding this iconic Japanese movie to your (re)watch list?