Winner of the Best Director Award at the 1959 Berlin Film Festival, this film is regarded by many to be one of Akira Kurosawa's finest & has been acknowledged by George Lucas as the principle inspiration for ' Star Wars'. Set in 16th century Japan, the story centres on rival clans, hidden gold & a princess in distress. Tahei (Minoru Chaiki) & Matashichi (Kamatari Fujiwara) are two cowardly soldiers on the run from an advancing enemy army. As they search the country for a cache of secret gold, they join forces with Rokurota Makabe (Toshiro Mifune), a samurai warrior who is escorting a fiesty princess (Misa Uehara) through enemy territory. The mismatched travellers then have to fight a number of battles before they finally come within sight of their goal. ...

Displaying more than fifty gardens, from private dwellings to the Imperial Palaces & Villas, temples, tea schools & shrines. The elements & structure of each garden are explained by Masaaki Ono, who studied under the greatest twentieth-century garden designer, Mirei Shigemori. ...