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The Lower Depths

1957 2h 5m Drama List
83% Tomatometer 6 Reviews 79% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Residents of a rundown boardinghouse in 19th-century Japan, including a mysterious old man (Bokuzen Hidari) and an aging actor (Kamatari Fujiwara), get drawn into a love triangle that turns violent. When amoral thief Sutekichi (Toshirô Mifune) breaks off his affair with landlady Osugi (Isuzu Yamada) to romance her younger sister, Okayo (Kyoko Kagawa), Osugi extracts her revenge by revealing her infidelity to her jealous husband (Ganjirô Nakamura).

Critics Reviews

View All (6) Critics Reviews
Bosley Crowther New York Times This is the purpose of the picture, to make one suffer and sympathize with them. Kurosawa's darkly imagistic technique achieves this depressing aim. Rated: 5/5 Sep 10, 2005 Full Review Hoshi Soffen Shin Nichibei/New Japanese American News [The Lower Depths] falls short of his other Mifune successes, ie: Rashomon, Seven Samurais. Nonetheless, it is Kurosawa through and through, and if you are one of his ardent public, you will want to include this on the list of "have seens." Jul 17, 2019 Full Review Louis Proyect rec.arts.movies.reviews Bleak comedy about a virtual flophouse in Edo-period Japan based on Gorky's play. Top-flight ensemble performance. Sep 2, 2010 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 5/5 Nov 3, 2005 Full Review John A. Nesbit ToxicUniverse.com Rated: 4/5 Sep 25, 2005 Full Review Jake Euker Filmcritic.com For the first hour and fifteen minutes of the movie, we make only limited excursions out of the tenement, and it begins to feel as though we've moved in ourselves. Kurosawa may have intended this, but it doesn't make for very satisfying viewing. Rated: 2.5/5 Sep 10, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member This film was almost good. 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 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 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 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 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 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Lower Depths

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Movie Info

Synopsis Residents of a rundown boardinghouse in 19th-century Japan, including a mysterious old man (Bokuzen Hidari) and an aging actor (Kamatari Fujiwara), get drawn into a love triangle that turns violent. When amoral thief Sutekichi (Toshirô Mifune) breaks off his affair with landlady Osugi (Isuzu Yamada) to romance her younger sister, Okayo (Kyoko Kagawa), Osugi extracts her revenge by revealing her infidelity to her jealous husband (Ganjirô Nakamura).
Director
Akira Kurosawa
Production Co
Toho Company Ltd.
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Japanese
Runtime
2h 5m