Images of Uma (Horses) in the Samurai Films of Akira Kurosawa

This article describes Kurosawa’s symbolic and dramatic use of the horse in some of his most important films set in the medieval era. The Japanese filmmaker’s horse scenes are pregnant with symbolism deeply rooted in archetypes of the horse embedded in worldwide myths, legends, and folktales. Kurosawa also exploited horse imagery to generate both comedy and pathos.