Five classic samurai films by the legendary Japanese director, Akira Kurosawa. 'Seven Samurai' (1954) tells the story of a group of 17th-century warriors recently detached from the powerful masters who once paid them. Veteran samurai Kambei (Takashi Shimura) is the leader of the group hired by the residents of a village suffering at the hands of a marauding band of thieves. Five of his cohorts are trained warriors, but the sixth, Kikuchiyo (Toshiro Mifune), is actually the son of a farmer, desperate to earn his spurs on the battlefield. The basics of the story served as the blueprint for the western classic 'The Magnificent Seven'. 'Throne of Blood' (1957), Akira Kurosawa's film version of 'Macbeth', transfers the action to medieval Japan. A samurai warrior (Toshiro Mifune) is urged to murder his lord (Takashi Shimura) and his best friend (Minoru Chiaki) by a forest spirit and an ambitious wife (Isuzu Yamada). Kurosawa renders 'the Scottish play' through the conventions of traditional Japanese Noh theatre, creating what was reputedly TS Eliot's favourite film. The famous ending sees Toshiro Mifune caught under hails of arrows. Winner of the Best Director Award at the 1959 Berlin Film Festival, 'The Hidden Fortress' (1958) is regarded by many to be one of Kurosawa's finest, and has been acknowledged by George Lucas as the principle inspiration for 'Star Wars'. Set in 16th-century Japan, the story centres on rival clans, hidden gold and a princess in distress. Tahei (Minoru Chaiki) and Matashichi (Kamatari Fujiwara) are two cowardly soldiers on the run from an advancing enemy army. As they search the country for a cache of secret gold, they join forces with Rokurota Makabe (Toshiro Mifune), a samurai warrior who is escorting a fiesty princess (Misa Uehara) through enemy territory. The mismatched travellers then have to fight a number of battles before they finally come within sight of their goal. Kurosawa combines elements of the western and the film noir in the classic adventure 'Yojimbo' (1961). Yojimbo (Toshiro Mifune), a freelance Samurai warrior, sells his services to rival factions in a small Japanese village. When he is betrayed, he turns his skills against his former employers, determined that the two warring sides should destroy each other. 'Yojimbo' was later remade by Sergio Leone as the Clint Eastwood spaghetti western 'A Fistful of Dollars'. In the samurai spoof 'Sanjuro' (1962), a sequel of sorts to 'Yojimbo', shabby samurai Sanjuro (Toshiro Mifune) teams up with eight young warriors who seek out corruption among the elders of their clan. They also embark on a mission to rescue a kidnapped chancellor from a corrupt war lord.

Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece tells the story of a group of 17th Century warriors recently detached from the powerful masters who once paid them. Veteran Samurai Kambei (Takashi Shimura) is the leader of the group who are hired by the residents of a village suffering at the hands of a marauding band of thieves. Five of his cohorts are trained warriors, but the sixth, Kikuchiyo (Toshiro Mifune), is actually the son of a farmer, desperate to earn his spurs on the battlefield. The basics of the story served as the blueprint for the western re-make 'The Magnificent Seven'.

Collection of five classic films from the celebrated Japanese director Akira Kurosawa.

In 'Ikiru' (1952) a dying man discovers a zest for life and desire to do some good after 30 years of dedicated work for the civil service. When Kanji Watanabe (Takashi Shimura), Chief of the Citizen's Section of the Town Hall, finds he has only six months to live he uses his influence to cut through bureaucratic red tape and give the go-ahead to the construction of a children's park in a poor area.

In 'Red Beard' (1965), set at the end of the Tokugawa era, domineering Dr Niide (Toshirô Mifune), known as 'Red Beard', is responsible for training new doctors, among them the lazy and socially ambitious Yasumoto (Yuzo Kayama). However, through a series of lessons in human sufferings, Yasumoto is eventually transformed into a caring doctor.

In 'The Lower Depths' (1957), adapted from the play by Maxim Gorky, Sutekichi (Mifune) is a pedlar who hides from the police in a dosshouse. Here he encounters many different characters, including an older woman who is in love with a thief, himself infatuated with a younger woman.

In 'I Live in Fear' (1955), at the height of the Cold War, ageing Japanese foundry owner Kiichi Nakajima (Mifune) decides that he and his entire family must emigrate to Brazil in order to find safety from a potential nuclear attack. The rest of the family, unwilling to sell up and move, attempt to have Kiichi declared mentally incompetent.

'Dodes'ka-den' (1970), set in Tokyo, portrays the lives of a variety of slum-dwellers, including the mentally ill Roku-chan (Yoshitaka Zushi) who passes his days pretending to be a conductor on a make-believe tram.

Six early films by Japanese auteur Akira Kurosawa. The films included comprise: 'Sanshuro Sugata' (1943), 'Sanshuro Sugata No 2' (1945), 'The Most Beautiful' (1944), 'The Men Who Tread On the Tiger's Tail' (1952), 'No Regrets For Our Youth' (1946) and 'One Wonderful Sunday' (1947).