Katayama Gorobei. left, and Kambei Shimada mourn the loss of their fellow Samurai, Heihachi Hayashida.

I just saw Akiro Kurosawa’s masterpiece, The Seven Samurai, for perhaps my fifth time. It just gets better and better with time. A gem I found in this viewing was in the line from the first samurai, Katayama Gorobei, recuited by the leader of group, the wise and wily Kambei Shimada. When offered the proposition to pledge his life to defend the villagers from bandits with Kambei, Katayama replies with a smile, “In life one finds friends in the strangest places.” Could not agree more.