How Seven Samurai inspired photographer to spend half his life in East Asia

Japanese director Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai (1954), the tale of a motley band of stereotype-busting 16th-century samurai hired to protect villagers from bandits, is frequently mentioned as one of the greatest films of all time. With a surprisingly humanistic take on tradition, and characters who bond despite coming from different social classes, the movie created the story archetype of the disparate band who unite for a single mission, and is visually breathtaking, particularly in its epic battle scenes.

Odyssey Guides travel publisher and Over Hong Kong photographer Magnus Bartlett explains how it changed his life.

Seven Samurai is surely the ultimate costume drama. Akira Kurosawa weaves savage swordplay with serenity, cruelty with tenderness, and breathtaking action with frequent wry humour.

I first saw it at the age of 11, in 1954, when the horrors of the second world war were still fresh. The film showed me that Japanese people were human, too, and it triggered in me a yearning to visit Japan. That yearning was fulfilled and more – it brought me to China, where I have now lived for 43 years.

For me and many other fans, including some of the world’s most renowned film­makers, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas included, this is the ultimate film insofar as it encapsulates the human condition in an almost non-stop emotional roller-coaster ride. Audiences are horrified one moment, laughing out loud the next.