It took three and a half hours in three sittings, but I finally finished Kurosawa's Seven Samurai. I was expecting a long sludge through a cultural literacy exercise, but got instead one of the best movies I've ever seen. It is beautifully shot, powerfully moving, charmingly funny and thoughtfully told. It is an epic that never drags, and if you told me I was going to be riveted by a 3 1/2 hour 16th century samurai film I would have scoffed. Now that I've certified Kurosawa's mastery with my own eyes, where do I go next?