It had been more than 1.5 years since my last Akira Kurosawa viewing. More than 2.5 years since my last characteristic Kurosawa viewing. And just about half a year since my last viewing to make me nostalgic for Kurosawa. So I was rather glad to discover what Netflix had delivered while I was off on vacation.
Dr. Sanada (Takashi Shimura) treats Matsunaga (ToshirÅ Mifune) initially for an injury hinting at gang violence, but that's not as great a concern as the compelling evidence of tuberculosis. Matsunaga doesn't take this news well at all, as being a yakuza makes any sign of weakness dangerous; besides, TB hinders his ability to enjoy vices. Complicating matters is the return of his boss from prison, who incidentally used to be in a relationship with Sanada's assistant....
Showing posts with label takashi shimura. Show all posts
Showing posts with label takashi shimura. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
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.
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.
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