Rashomon (Japan, 1950)

A woodcutter and a priest is sitting beneath Rashōmon gate to stay dry in a downpour. A commoner joins them and they tell him that they've witnessed a disturbing story, which they then begin recounting to him. The woodcutter claims he found the body of a murdered samurai three days earlier while looking for wood in the forest; upon discovering the body, he says, he fled in a panic to notify the authorities. The priest says that he saw the samurai and the woman traveling the same day the murder happened. Both men were then summoned to testify in court, where they met the captured bandit Tajōmaru, who claimed responsibility for the rape and murder.

With Rashomon, Akira Kurosawa became a worldwide star. Considered one of his ultimate masterpieces, the film features an original story with screenplay way ahead of its time and a superb Toshiro Mifune in the lead role. Mifune was told by Kurosawa to act like a lion, so one of the biggest pleasures with the film is seeing his absolutely savage performance. A shining gem in Asian cinema.

Genre: Crime/Drama/Mystery

Seven Samurai (Japan, 1954)

A gang of bandits continuously raid a small, defenseless village in the mountains. Without much hope, the village chief decides that they're gonna hire seven samurai to help them with their problem. 

There isn't much that has not been said about Akira Kurosawa's classic. Known as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made, Seven Samurai is one of those unforgettable moment in film history. The fantastic Toshiro Mifune (Yojimbo, High and Low) plays the seventh samurai, and is my personal favorite of the bunch of warriors, all with their own characteristic traits. Film techniques that are standard in todays movies first appeared in this film. It was such a large production that it nearly forced the film company Toho into bankruptcy, but every time they paused the production Kurosawa would go fishing and wait it out because he knew they'd spent too much money on the movie to cancel it.

But all the sweat, blood and tears amounted to one of the most important films in history. 

Genre: Adventure/Drama