Audience Member
This film was almost good.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
02/12/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Through various points of the film, Kurosawa thrives on triple-strata action, photographing three layers of story at once, a boldly effective maneuver. One of these is Grandpa attending to the dying lady while her abusive husband gambles with another and behind them is a bigger gambling game.
The film is constantly moving, never fading or cutting to another scene, but rather keeping afloat by introducing a new character or plot element. The energy maintains through various dry comical bits, like Grandpa singling, or the crazy dancing guy getting booted by the land lady.
Grandpa acts as an angel, seems like he's here to shakabuku. His abrupt exit is surprising, and may hurt our faith, despite attempts by some to at least acknowledge he was a sweet person. But that was compensation for having little else to offer.
A one setting film that reads more like a stage play, but Kurosawa manages to make it work cinematically through hundreds of camera setups.
Osen the whore is having an emotional arc, expressing herself, and the samurai considers it a perfectly good way of passing time. That about sums up life in the lower depths.
It's a very interesting form, getting invested with one set of characters, but then another set that's lingered in the background take over. We see what the main characters left behind. There doesn't seem to be anything terribly poignant about it, but we're not used to seeing this in a movie. It's not as relevant as Ikiru, when the results of what Shimura's death represented are played out.
The ending is a shocking reversal, interrupting a very funny drunken song and dance number - there's nothing like a laugh before a shock. Osen has run away threatening to kill herself, soon followed by the drunk actor who is ready to follow up on Grandpa's promise of a curing temple. But he's not fled there, and Osen has not killed herself, rather backing into her old domicile after seeing it's the actor who's hung himself. I can honestly say I didn't see it coming. We never really get what happens to the main set of characters, and the film abruptly ends on the word "bastard," talking about the actor, who was a supporting character at best throughout.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/12/23
Full Review
Audience Member
At one point the sage in this story, an elderly man who has happened across the denizens of a slum, tells them that they must ask themselves why a young girl has chosen to tell a particular story. And so I think we must ask ourselves why Kurosawa has chosen to tell Gorky's drab story, which is one of squalor and desolation. He says it was a comedy, but I don't believe it.
The film was made twelve years after WWII, the aftermath of which had people all over the world horrified at what man was capable of doing to man. Japan has been brought to its knees, reeling after a devastating defeat, and awareness of its atrocities were in an unspoken part of the national consciousness. Existentialism was a natural reaction here and elsewhere. Why be good to others? Is there a god? Why live a conventional life? Why not enjoy getting drunk and living day to day, in the now? To be clear, the poor people living in their hovel at the base of a garbage dump are not there by choice, but these are some of the questions they ask. They all claim to have known better times, and want to get back to them, but there is a sense of doom over all of them. To see their mad, improvisational dancing and singing at the end of the film, you might think they would fit in perfectly with the Beats in America.
The sage who appears has no definitive answers, and in fact alludes to his own ribald past, but acts with such gentleness and empathy towards the others that he seems enlightened. Tellingly, he slips away when the action heats up in a jealous love triangle; like Buddha (or Christ, or any other religious teacher), he's provided his teaching, and now it's up to them to apply or ignore it.
Unfortunately, there is such dreariness here, and the film feels flat - all of the action takes place in a very confined space, and most of it is consumed with dialog. That could be the point, but it doesn't make for an enjoyable experience. Toshiro Mifune is over-the-top in his role of thief and lady's man, but Isuzu Yamada turns in a good performance as his spurned lover who plots revenge, openly mocking him. Overall, though, I think the story would have better in written form, and I suspect the higher review scores are due more to loyalty to Kurosawa, and his prestige. It's watchable, but don't say I didn't warn you.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/13/23
Full Review
s r
Great movie, but not the ending I wanted because "he broke up the party, Bastard!" What a catchy little tune they came up with though.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Kurosawa takes a Russian play and transwplants it in Edo-period Japan much like his "7 Samuai" got transplanted in the wild US west 2 become 'the magnificent seven"
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/21/23
Full Review
Audience Member
One of two films Kurosawa made about people in severe, deep poverty. Both are extremely depressing films that require repeat viewings to appreciate them. The other is Dodes' ka-den. This one begins with women throwing trash on top of the home of about a dozen or so people who share a large shack, a shack with virtually no doors, so everyone is forced to interact with one another. The women throw the trash because they think it is a landfill. But these people actually have to pay rent to a cruel landlord who lives next to them. There are virtually no possessions inside the shack. The character of Gramps or Grandpa ( he has no name) is absolutely essential, otherwise this film would be nearly unwatchable. He provides the spiritual center, the all-seeing wisdom that the film needs. It is a world so hopeless even daydreams are not allowed as evidenced by a woman who is scolded because of her daydreams. When Gramps is forced to leave because of a violent altercation involving the thief played by Toshiro Mifune, she is the one who feels the loss the most. She threatens suicide, but is ignored, in fact they nearly all take turns yearning or hoping for death at one time or another, even the young still healthy ones. The only one who doesn't yearn for death is Mifune (and the wise grandpa) who is determined to save himself and also a woman he has fallen for. But there are no happy endings in this film. It seems only the alcoholics among them find a modicum of escape, and even they are rudely interrupted at the end of the film
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/14/23
Full Review
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