Hakuchi/The Idiot (1951)

I've long known Akira Kurosawa to take inspiration from westerns and Shakespeare plays for his samurai epics. But while I'd seen some dramas of his set in contemporary Japan, it didn't occur to me that they, too, might owe something to foreign artists. In this case, it's the Fyodor Dostoevsky novel with the same title in English.

I picked this one out of curiosity, not for its literary basis but for its DVD case description as having had an especially troubled production and an initially lukewarm reception. It certainly gained popularity after spreading to other countries, judging from its 7.5 on IMDb and 75% on Rotten Tomatoes. The main signs of production problems come in the form of strange scene shifts and inconsistent handling of narration (or lack thereof): Early on, we get a few intertitles, despite this being far from a silent movie; later we get a brief anonymous voiceover, and that's it. We may have to blame the cutting of more than 1.5 hours, tho it still runs more than 2.5.

The protagonist, Kameda, has the misfortune of living at a time when the equivalent of "idiot" was a broad medical diagnosis. The way he tells it, he was scheduled for execution for a crime he didn't commit, got pardoned at the last minute, and thereafter found his shocked brain not operating at peak capacity. I'd call that a form of PTSD. Outside sources indicate that he had developed epilepsy, which would explain why he's returning from an asylum at the start of the film.

Kameda's so-called idiocy is most apparent in his nearly childlike innocence. When he meets Taeko, who has more than one suitor but a low moral reputation, he deems her "pure." This stirs wildly mixed emotions. In essence, she loves him but believes that (1) she'd be no good for him and (2) she deserves a worse husband. And suitor Akama (the unmistakable Toshirō Mifune), while temptingly rich, is a pretty aggressive jerk. But even he finds himself hard-pressed to stay angry at sweet Kameda while in his presence.

Further complications arise as Taeko tries to play matchmaker with Kameda and one Ayako. Ayako has her own difficulty sorting out what to make of Kameda. And for all his moments of poetically ironic insight into feelings and values, he doesn't have any easier time choosing between them.

Anything based on a classic Russian novel is almost guaranteed a tragic ending. Me, I'm just glad it doesn't have a ton of important characters to keep track of. In other words, for all its length and emotional complexity, even an "idiot" could appreciate this movie. When in the mood for it, anyway.

Of the 14 Kurosawa films I've watched, this one does not make the upper half in my opinion. To call it average among his non-samurai titles would be generous. But that's not saying much. I have yet to see a real misfire on his part. As long, foreign romantic dramas go, it's worth checking out.