The Samurai

The samurai is an iconic figure, evoking images of formidable fighters possessing ideals of courage, honour and self-sacrifice. For the samurai in film culture there is no greater director than the legendary Akira Kurosawa. Together, the British Museum and BFI IMAX celebrate the samurai in film and artefact with this film season complementing a sweeping exhibition on the legendary Japanese warriors, both men and women, and the reality of their world from the battlefields of medieval Japan to the global pop culture of today.

Read a BFI article on 10 great samurai films.

The British Museum’s Samurai exhibition runs until 4 May.

28 February

Throne of Blood + extended intro by Rosina Buckland, the British Museum’s lead curator of Samurai

The greatest screen adaptation of Shakespeare? Kurosawa’s take on Macbeth is the thrilling work of a director at the height of his powers.

22 March

Rashomon

Credited with bringing Japanese cinema to worldwide audiences, Akira Kurosawa’s breakthrough tells the story of a murder in the woods from four differing perspectives.