My parents rented “Seven Samurai” when I was a kid, and watched it over two or three nights. Afterward, they expressed the opinion that it was “good, but really weird.” The first time I watched it was a number of years later, and I'd been prepared by a lot of other movies and books to understand it in context. So, I didn't find it weird at all, just brilliant and a lot of fun.

I think what they probably found weird about it was the servile behavior of the peasants, who cringe like frightened dogs at the merest gesture from one of the samurai. Akira Kurosawa, the director, must have been fascinated by the samurai warriors, because many of his most famous movies are about them. He was also known for his leftist politics, though, and you can see that in his movies.

In “Seven Samurai,” for example, one of the seven isn't really a samurai at all but a peasant trying to make his fortune by living as a warrior. When his comrades find that the villagers they're defending have been hoarding a cache of weapons stolen from murdered samurai, his impassioned and self-hating speech about the life of the peasants is the only thing that convinces the samurai not to run out on them or worse. This character, played by Toshiro Mifune, straddles the line between the otherwise incompatible worlds of samurai and peasant, and is the only one who can mediate between them. Kurosawa handles class issues with intelligence and subtlety, just like he does with every other aspect of this epic story.