Seven Samurai (1954)

Yoshio Inaba: Gorobei Katayama

Photos 

Quotes 

• Kambei Shimada : Go to the north. The decisive battle will be fought there.

  Gorobei Katayama : Why didn't you build a fence there?

  Kambei Shimada : A good fort needs a gap. The enemy must be lured in. So we can attack them. If we only defend, we lose the war.

• Heihachi Hayashida : Haven't you ever seen anyone cut firewood before?

  Gorobei Katayama : You seem to enjoy it.

  Heihachi Hayashida : That's just the way I am. Yah!

  [he chops another log] 

  Gorobei Katayama : You're good!

  Heihachi Hayashida : Not really. It's a lot harder than killing enemies. Yah!

  [he splits another log] 

  Gorobei Katayama : Have you killed many?

  Heihachi Hayashida : Since it's impossible to kill them all - yah!

  [he splits another log] 

  Heihachi Hayashida : I usually run away.

  Gorobei Katayama : A splendid principle.

  Heihachi Hayashida : Thank you. Yah!

• Gorobei Katayama : The threshing's done and still no bandits. Everyone's saying they might not come after all.

  Kambei Shimada : A tempting thought. But when you think you're safe is precisely when you're most vulnerable.

• Gorobei Katayama : How did you fare?

  Kambei Shimada : We let a good fish get away. An excellent swordsman.

  Gorobei Katayama : [laughs]  They say the fish that gets away looks bigger than it really is.

• [Gorobei is watching Heihachi, who is methodically splitting logs] 

  Gorobei Katayama : How'd you like to kill thirty bandits?

  [Heihachi spins around in surprise as his axe swings wide] 

• Gorobei Katayama : I'm with you. But I have to say that although I understand the farmers' suffering and understand why you would take up their cause, it's your character that I find most compelling. In life one finds friends in the strangest places.

• Gorobei Katayama : Where shall we start our patrol?

  Kambei Shimada : The spot that worries us the most, of course.

  [Kambei and Gorobei arrive at a campfire near one of the roads, and find Kikuchiyo lying on the ground, his head propped up against a log and his feet resting on another log. He is supposed to be on guard, but is sound asleep. His sword is stuck upright in a pile of logs. Kambei and Gorobei exchange glances as they approach their snoring comrade. Softly Kambei comes forward and takes the sword away. The two hide behind a straw hut. Gorobei throws a rock, which wakes Kikuchiyo with a start. Kikuchiyo scrambles to the pile where his sword had been] 

  Kikuchiyo : Who's there?

  [He feels around for the sword, only to find it gone. He grabs a log from the pile and brandishes it] 

  Kikuchiyo : Who's there? Come on out!

  Kambei Shimada : Kikuchiyo.

  [Kikuchiyo whirls around to see Kambei and Gorobei standing behind him] 

  Kambei Shimada : You're lucky it was us. If it had been the bandits...

  [He tosses Kikuchiyo his confiscated Nodachi] 

  Kambei Shimada : ... You'd be looking for your head.

  [Kikuchiyo sinks down to his knees by the fire. He is so ashamed he can't speak]