Seven Samurai is widely recognized as Kurosawa's masterpiece, and eminent Japanese film critic Donald Richie adds, "were it necessary to make the choice, I should call it the finest Japanese film ever made." The simple story involves a small farming village threatened by marauding bandits. With difficulty, the farmers recruit seven masterless and homeless samurai, who train the villagers as warriors, fight the bandits themselves and ultimately save the village, all in exchange for a few bowls of rice. Each of the samurai has a distinct, memorable character, but Toshiro Mifune stands out among them as an overzealous, brash young farmer's son. His performance is complemented by that of Takashi Shimura as the older, experienced samurai whose nobility of character attracts the other six to the cause. Richie writes, "The film is an impassioned call for cooperation among men and, at the same time, suggests why this has always been and will always be impossible.... (One) reason that the tragic statement remains only implicit is that the original script...has been realized in terms of visual magnificence. One is so overcome by the splendid animality, by the sheer vitality of the visuals that it is only later that one realizes how near to tears one has been." (in Japanese Cinema)