Samurai 7 (2004)

During the time of change of the mid-19th Century, Yaichiro is bid farewell by his fellow samurai friends Munezo and Samon as he leaves their clan's fiefdom on the northwest coast of Japan (Unasaka) to take an important position within the shogunate in far away Edo. Munezo has lived modestly with his mother and sister Shino after his father was forced into suicide after the failure of a bridge project. Kie, a farm girl serves them as a maid in their house. As time passes, Munezo's sister marries Samon, his mother dies, Kie is married into a merchant family, and he is required to learn western methods of warfare such as the use of artillery and firearms from an official sent from Edo. Learning that Kie is ill due to abuse, he rescues her from her husband's family. Although sharing mutual affection and respect, a marriage between Munezo and Kie is still impossible due to different castes…

A LANDMARK REISSUE OF THEIR PARLOPHONE STUDIO ALBUM.. ‘Release’, featuring Johnny Marr on guitar, which entered the top ten in the UK album charts on its release in 2002 is seeing a remastered issue. It also comes with two ‘Further listening’ albums of additional tracks, including unreleased songs ‘Motoring’, ‘The night is a time to explore who you are’, ‘Run, girl, run’ and ‘Reunion’, as well as previously-unreleased John Peel versions of ‘A powerful friend’ and ‘If looks could kill’ and a previously-unreleased cover version of Gilbert O’Sullivan’s ‘Alone again, naturally’ featuring Elton John.

Jean Renoir and Akira Kurosawa, two of cinema’s greatest directors, transform Maxim Gorky’s classic proletariat play The Lower Depths in their own ways for their own times. Renoir, working amidst the rise of Hitler and the Popular Front in France, had need to take license with the dark nature of Gorky’s source material, softening its bleak outlook. Kurosawa, firmly situated in the postwar world, found little reason for hope. He remained faithful to the original with its focus on the conflict between illusion and reality—a theme he would return to over and over again. Working with their most celebrated actors (Gabin with Renoir; Mifune with Kurosawa), each film offers a unique look at cinematic adaptation—where social conditions and filmmaking styles converge to create unique masterpieces.

A LANDMARK REISSUE OF THEIR PARLOPHONE STUDIO ALBUM.. ‘Release’, featuring Johnny Marr on guitar, which entered the top ten in the UK album charts on its release in 2002 is seeing a remastered issue. It also comes with two ‘Further listening’ albums of additional tracks, including unreleased songs ‘Motoring’, ‘The night is a time to explore who you are’, ‘Run, girl, run’ and ‘Reunion’, as well as previously-unreleased John Peel versions of ‘A powerful friend’ and ‘If looks could kill’ and a previously-unreleased cover version of Gilbert O’Sullivan’s ‘Alone again, naturally’ featuring Elton John.

Yojiro Takita's epic film set at the end of the Edo period in Kyoto tells the story of Kanichiro Yoshimura, a lone Samurai whose sole purpose in life was to make enough money to support his family. His fellow warriors initially view him as dishonorable for this mercenary approach, especially Saito, another member of the Shinsengumi, guardians of the Imperial capital. It is here that Kanichiro proves himself time and time again as a master swordsman, eventually earning the respect of Saito and the other samurai.