I Live in Fear

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Virgo V I Live in Fear (Ikimono no Kiroku or Record of a Living Being) is a 1955 Japanese drama film directed and written by Akira Kurosawa. It was co-written by Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni. It stars Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura. It was distributed and produced by Toho Company, Limited. Composer Fumio Hayasaka died while working on it. The film was entered into the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. Vision wrote “the film is about an elderly Japanese foundry owner who is mentally terrified of the prospect of nuclear attacks in Hiroshima and Nagasaki that would spread across Japan. He becomes determined and hell-bent to move his entire extended family to what he imagines is the safest place in the world; Brazil! His family, a fire and his foundry are all that stands in his way. Toshiro Mifune comes out on top with his performance as Kiichi. I didn’t really follow much of the story. It lacked excitement. Three fries for acting, directing and writing.” Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 08/13/25 Full Review laurent b Kurosawa doesn't depicts here the fear of nuclear, or the danger of nuclear (which he doesn't deny of course), but precisely that the main danger is elsewhere... And it is so amazing to see that more than fifty years before now, he already understood that people could try to preserve their material comfort rather than their own lives, and they could go as far as put people in jail or asylum rather than renounce their life standards. So "I live in Fear" has to be discover now more than ever... Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member This could very well be Toshiro Mifune's best performance of his career. Despite only being 35 years old at the time of the movie, Mifune was incredibly convincing as a 70 year old man. While I didn't grow up in an era that was bogged down by the fear of nuclear annihilation, it was very easy to empathize with Mifune's character as we see him overwhelmed by the fear of the h-bomb. This movie reminded me very much of 12 Angry Men, as the story is told through the eyes of a principled man tasked with deliberating the legal issues at the center of this movie's plot. A special shout-out to Takashi Shimura's performance in this movie is warranted. Respect. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Toshiro Mifune was only 35 but here he portrays a man in his seventies. He gives a legendary performance and even looks emaciated, but I don't know how much weight he lost. This is a Depressing Kurosawa film in which a wealthy family patriarch develops a morbid fear of war, especially the hydrogen bomb. He attempts to relocate his entire family to Brazil where he thinks everyone will be safe. But because of financial and cultural reasons his family fights him tooth and nail, which leads to all hell breaking loose. It may be slow going for some viewers but its aftermath leaves a devastating impression. This was a big failure at the box office, but today it is prescient because of the Lunatic in North Korea, whose wet dream it is to acquire the Hydrogen bomb someday and then use it on Japan. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Pretty good, but not Kurosawa's best. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member I Live In Fear is very direct and even melodramatic, but its piercing commentary and fiery performances, as well as Kurosawa's well trained eye, make for a ballsy exploration into the anxious mind. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Read all reviews

I Live in Fear

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