2022 Blind Spot Series: Dreams

 

Written and directed by Akira Kurosawa, Yume (Dreams) is a collection of stories based on Kurosawa’s own dreams as it play into the life of a man who goes through many journeys in his life from childhood to adult hood. The film is an epic of sorts that follow eight different stories that all revolve around the ideas of humanity all seen through the eyes of a boy who then becomes a man. Starring Akira Terao, Chishu Ryu, Mieko Harada, Mitsuko Baisho, and Martin Scorsese as Vincent Van Gogh. Yume is a ravishing and intoxicating film from Akira Kurosawa.

The film is essentially a collection of eight different stories all based on the dreams of a man that play into his development of his life that include encounters with nature, the dead, life away from modernism, and apocalyptic nightmares. It is a film that explore a man’s journey through humanity as well as the many ideas on life from the wonders he saw as a boy and what he would experience as a man all told in eight different stories by its creator in Akira Kurosawa. Featuring additional contributions from Ishiro Honda, all eight stories are seen from the eyes of its protagonist known as I (Akira Terao) who would encounter these events with the first two shows him as a child (Toshihiko Nakano) and as an adolescent (Mitsunori Isaki). The first segment entitled Sunshine Through the Rain is about the child encountering an event he’s not supposed to see involving a wedding between two foxes as his mother (Mitsuko Baisho) warned him not to watch this event. The second segment entitled The Peach Orchard has the adolescent I encounter a ghostly fairy (Misato Tate) mistaking her for one of his sister’s friends. There, he encounters ghosts who want to punish him for being associated with those that destroyed the peach orchard when he begs them not to where he watches a ceremony.

The remaining six episodes involve I as an adult with The Blizzard being about his time as a mountaineer with three other mountaineers trying to reach camp in a blizzard where I encounters a mysterious ghost (Mieko Harada). The Tunnel has I walking into a tunnel where he once again encounters the dead in the form of Private Noguchi (Yoshitaka Zuki) as well as the entire regiment of his platoon who all appear where I begs for their forgiveness blaming himself for being the only man that lived during the war. Crows has I as an art student where he finds himself in the world where Vincent Van Gogh is creating paintings with Van Gogh commenting on what it means to be an artist. The next two segments in Mount Fuji in Red and The Weeping Demon are both these apocalyptic segments with the former revolving around nuclear catastrophe where I tries to protect a woman (Toshie Negishi) from the radiation while the latter has I meeting this demon (Chosuke Ikariya) with a horn on his head who laments over the state of his surroundings and his own impending doom. The final segment in Village of the Watermills is this tranquil setting where I walks into this peaceful village as if it is completely disconnected with modern society where he befriends an old man (Chishu Ryu) who talks about the things he has and why he has no use for modern conveniences.

Kurosawa’s direction is definitely grand in terms of the overall presentation of the film as it is shot on various locations in Japan with the final segment shot on location at the Daio Wasabi Farm. Each segment Kurosawa presents all have some kind of personal ideas as the Sunshine Through the Rain segment is shot near a forest where this child watches a ceremony that is choreographed by Michiyo Hata as there is a richness in the presentation where Kurosawa utilizes a lot of wide and medium shots of these scenes. Most notably in The Peach Orchard where the adolescent watches this ceremony that would revive all of these peach orchards as there are these meticulous imagery into the way Kurosawa would present these naturalistic moments. The segments in The Blizzard and The Tunnel do play into the idea of death with the former being this battle against nature in this furious blizzard while the latter is about grief following the aftermath of war where I is near the home of a private he was with in his final hours.

The segment for Crows is a lush and almost surreal sequence where Kurosawa would recreate the world that Van Gogh would make his paintings as well as these sequences with these grand visual effects where I is walking on painting sketches. The segments for Mount Fuji in Red and The Weeping Demon are among Kurosawa’s most intense as the former is shot near gray beaches as if Mount Fuji is surrounded by these nuclear reactors that are exploding as there’s loads of people trying to run from the explosions as there is this sense of real fear that is emerging. Even with the radiation as the color of red drowns a lot of what is happening as a man (Hisashi Igawa) laments over his role in the nuclear power plant. The Weeping Demon segment is shot on a mountain where there are these large dandelions towering over the man and demon as this strange form of beauty that is deformed while the land of the demons is one of great horror as it also has this commentary on the many fallacies of capitalism.

The final segment in Village of the Watermills is definitely the most somber as Kurosawa would shoot a lot of long and gazing monologues where he doesn’t employ a lot of close-ups in order to get conversations be presented. Instead, Kurosawa aims for simplicity in the final segment while it would also feature an elaborate parade of sorts with I watching it from afar. It is a moment in the film that parallels with the parade in the first segment yet it plays into the protagonist’s own journey in life as well as the fact that these are all ideas based on dreams about humanity, nature, life, and death. Overall, Kurosawa crafts a majestic yet rapturous film about a collection of dreams that play into a man’s journey through life.

Cinematographers Takao Saito and Shoji Ueda do amazing work with the film’s luscious and colorful cinematography with its emphasis on natural lighting for some of the daytime exterior scenes with additional lighting by Takeji Sano for some scenes set at night such as the scenes at the blizzard and in the tunnel. Editor Tome Minami does excellent work with the editing as it is largely straightforward with bits of style in a few slow-motion cuts and a few other stylish bits to play into the drama and suspense. Art directors Yoshiro Muraki and Akira Sakuragi, with set decorator Koichi Hamamura, does amazing work with the look of the home where the young child and adolescent lived in as well as the look of deformed giant-flowers. Costume designer Emi Wada does fantastic work with the costumes in the look of the robes for some of the parades as it has a lot of vibrancy in the colors of the robes as well as a sense of feeling and idea of what they’re representing.

Special effects supervisor Mark Sullivan and visual effects supervisor Ken Ralston do terrific work with the visual effects as it play into some scenes involving rainbows, nuclear terror, and the Van Gogh sketches as it is a major highlight of the film. The sound work of Kenichi Benitani is superb for its approach to natural sound as well as sound effects for the scenes at Mount Fuji. The film’s music by Shinichiro Ikebe is incredible for its mixture of traditional Japanese folk music with some orchestral flourishes as it play into not just some of the intense and dramatic moments but also lighter moments while its soundtrack also include some classical compositions from Frederic Chopin and Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov.

The film’s wonderful ensemble cast feature some notable small roles such as members of the 20-ki No Kai as I’s former platoon, the trio of Masayuki Yui, Shu Nakajima, and Sakae Kimura as mountaineers dealing with the blizzard, Tessho Yamashita as I’s former lieutenant, Mieko Suzuki as the adolescent’s sister, Misato Tate as the peach fairy, and the Kiku-no Kai dancers as dancers at the fox wedding. Other noteworthy small roles include Hisashi Igawa as a remorseful power plant worker looking at the chaos at Mount Fuji, Toshie Negishi as a woman with two kids watching the horror at Mount Fuji, Mitsunori Isaki as the adolescent I who laments over the loss of the peach orchard, and Toshihiko Nakano as I as a young boy whose curiosity over the fox wedding parade gets him in trouble. Mitsuko Baisho is terrific as I’s mother in the first segment who warns her son about watching the fox parade.

The duo of Mieko Harada and Chosuke Ikariya are superb in their respective roles as the ghostly figures as the Snow Woman and Weeping Demon with the former being this silent figure that would guide I during the blizzard while the latter is a figure is someone who laments over his role in the world as he is filled with regret. Yoshitaka Zushi is fantastic as the ghostly figure of Private Noguchi as a former soldier that I took care of back in World War II who asks him about his death. Martin Scorsese is excellent in his small role as Vincent Van Gogh as he is covered largely by makeup yet brings this offbeat approach to his take on the artist as someone that is just trying to find ideas in his surroundings. Chishu Ryu is amazing in his small role as an old man fixing a wheel at a watermill as he converses with I as he talks about what he has and the contentment he has in his life. Finally, there’s Akira Terao in a brilliant performance as the character known as I as a man who would endure many different adventures and encounters as it relates to life and death but also meaning as he tries to find himself as well as his role in the world.

Yume is a tremendous film from Akira Kurosawa. Featuring a great ensemble cast, gorgeous images, a rich music score and soundtrack, and themes of life, death, meaning, and environment all told through the idea of dreams. It is a film that isn’t just one of Kurosawa’s great films but is also one of his most accessible in terms of the themes he explores as well as showcasing a world when things were simple and can be again but also the horrors brought on by the darkest aspects of humanity. In the end, Yume is a spectacular film from Akira Kurosawa.

Akira Kurosawa Films: (Sanshiro Sugata) – (The Most Beautiful) – (Sanshiro Sugata Part II) – (The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail) – No Regrets for Our Youth - (Those Who Make Tomorrow) – (One Wonderful Sunday) – Drunken Angel - (The Quiet Duel) – Stray Dog - Scandal (1950 film) - Rashomon - The Idiot (1951 film) - Ikiru - The Seven Samurai - (I Live in Fear) – Throne of Blood - (The Lower Depths (1957 film)) – The Hidden Fortress - The Bad Sleep Well - Yojimbo - Sanjuro - High and Low - Red Beard - Dodesukaden - Dersu Uzala - Kagemusha - Ran - (Rhapsody in August) – (Madadayo)

© thevoid99 2022

Dersu Uzala (1975 film)

Based on the memoir by Vladimir Arsenyev, Dersu Uzala is the story of a man exploring a region where he later meets a guide who would help him explore the region as they would also endure harsh conditions in order to survive. Directed by Akira Kurosawa and screenplay by Kurosawa and Yuri Nagibin, the film is a look into two ideals that collide where a man tries to maintain a way of life as well as deal with changes in the world. Starring Maxim Munzuk and Yury Solomin. Dersu Uzala is a grand yet evocative film from Akira Kurosawa.

The film revolves around an explorer who reflects on his journey in exploring the Ussuri region in 1902 where he meets a guide who would show him this world as they would become friends. It’s a film that play into two men from different worlds and ideologies who work together as they endure all sorts of things as well as being in an environment that is unpredictable but also exhilarating. The film’s screenplay by Akira Kurosawa and Yuri Nagibin is largely told in a reflective manner by Captain Vladimir Arseniev (Yury Solomin) who arrives at a site where a new village is being built as he asks for the burial site of his old friend in the titular character (Maxim Munzuk) whom he had met eight years earlier where Captain Arseniev was leading an expedition in the Ussuri region with some soldiers. They would bump into Uzala who is this Goldi guide who knows the region and its surroundings better than anyone where he manages to win over Captain Arseniev and his entourage despite his eccentric ideas.

The film’s structure is separated mainly into two halves as the bulk of the first half is about the 1902 expedition where Captain Arseniev and his small band of soldiers trek through the woods and rivers in the Ussuri region where they’re to survey the land of Shkotovo. The second half is mainly about the 1907 expedition where Captain Arseniev and a new and somewhat expanded entourage survey the land including its mountains during the course of a year. Captain Arseniev would reunite with Uzala as the two don’t just renew their friendship but also go into more adventures yet would endure some challenges such as some mysterious myths that Uzala believes as well as an encounter with a Siberian tiger that would change everything.

Kurosawa’s direction is definitely intoxicating as it is shot on location at the Russian Far East wilderness with a few shots at a studio in Moscow. For the entirety of the film, there are no close-ups in the film as Kurosawa aims for shots isn’t just about the scope of the locations but also for the characters to deal with their surroundings. Shot on 70mm film, Kurosawa would emphasize on wide and medium shots for the locations as well as shooting the actors at a location where they are having a conversation or look into where they’re at in the forest. There are some carefully-crafted compositions that Kurosawa would make in how he builds up the friendship between Captain Arseniev and Uzala as it starts off with a sense of curiosity from the former towards the latter. Even as Uzala is a man that doesn’t know much about the outside world as he’s more in tune with nature and its surroundings. Yet, he is someone that Captain Arseniev and his team need to know where they’re going as there’s a major sequence during the film’s first half where Captain Arseniev and Uzala deal with intense snowy winds and the only way to survive was to make a camp out of grass. It’s a moment where the two realize their worth to each other as the first half of the film ends when Uzala politely declines Captain Arseniev’s invitation to visit the latter’s home in the city.

The second half begins in a spring-like setting where Captain Arseniev is surveying his surroundings on top of a mountain where Kurosawa’s camera manages to capture so much of the location as it has something that feels peaceful. Even as the film’s tone would darken over the fact that he and Uzala would encounter things that show a cruelty to animals and a rogue Chinese hunting faction that is doing horrible atrocities as they’re being pursued by another Chinese army that respectfully greets Captain Arseniev and his entourage. The third act isn’t just about Uzala coping with his encounter with a Siberian tiger which he tries to evade but also its troubling aftermath where Uzala would deal with things he couldn’t cope with as well as the fact that the world around him is changing. Even as Captain Arseniev brings him to his home where knows that it’s a world that Uzala couldn’t understand nor be a part of. Overall, Kurosawa crafts a meditative yet ravishing film about an explorer’s friendship with a Goldi guide in early 20th Century Russia.

Cinematographers Asakazu Nakai, Yuri Gantman, and Fyodor Dobronravov do incredible work with the film’s cinematography with its natural usage of available lighting for many of the exterior scenes to play into the beauty of the locations with bits of artificial lighting for the film’s final moments in Captain Arseniev’s home. Editor Valentina Stepanova does excellent work with the editing as it is straightforward due to its lack of stylistic editing choices in order to play into the drama and development of the relationship between Uzala and Captain Arseniev. Production designer Yuriy Raksha does terrific work with the look of the hut that Uzala lived in during the film’s first half as well as the home of Captain Arseniev towards the film’s ending.

Costume designer Tatyana Lichmanova does nice work with the costumes from the uniforms that Captain Arseniev and his entourage would wear as well as the winter-like clothing they would wear during the winter as well as the ragged look of Uzala. The sound work of Olga Burkova is brilliant for its natural approach to the sound in capturing the atmosphere of the locations as well as the intense sound of the winter winds as it is one of the film’s highlights. The film’s music by Isaak Schwartz is wonderful for its mixture of low-key string music and traditional Russian choral music that play into the drama and mysticism that the characters encounter in the forest.

The film’s cast as it largely includes an array of Russian and Chinese actors for the ensemble as the focus is mainly on its two principle actors. The performances of Maxim Munzuk and Yury Solomin in their respective roles as the titular character and the book’s author Captain Vladimir Arseniev are phenomenal. Munzuk’s performance is unconventional for its offbeat presentation of the character as a man who seems like this country bumpkin yet offers so much more in how to survive the woods as he gains the respect of Captain Arseniev’s men as he would later cope with aging and feeling out of sorts with the modern world. Solomin’s performance is understated in its sense of grace and understanding as a man who is aware of the job he has to play but does it with a sense of humility prompting him to learn more of his surroundings as well as be sympathetic with Uzala’s sense of alienation in the modern world.

Dersu Uzala is a tremendously rich film from Akira Kurosawa. Featuring a great cast led by Maxim Munzuk and Yury Solomin, astonishing visuals, a mesmerizing music score, and a simple yet touching story of friendship and exploration. The film is truly one of Kurosawa’s finest films in terms of telling a simple story and creating something that is extraordinary. In the end, Dersu Uzala is a spectacular film from Akira Kurosawa.

Akira Kurosawa Films: (Sanshiro Sugata) – (The Most Beautiful) – (Sanshiro Sugata Part II) – (The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail) – No Regrets for Our Youth - (Those Who Make Tomorrow) – (One Wonderful Sunday) – Drunken Angel - (The Quiet Duel) – Stray Dog - Scandal (1950 film) - Rashomon - The Idiot (1951 film) - Ikiru - The Seven Samurai - (I Live in Fear) – Throne of Blood - (The Lower Depths (1957 film)) – The Hidden Fortress - The Bad Sleep Well - Yojimbo - Sanjuro - High and Low - Red Beard - Dodesukaden - Kagemusha - Ran - Dreams (1990 film) – (Rhapsody in August) – (Madadayo)

© thevoid99 2018

Stray Dog

Directed by Akira Kurosawa and written by Kurosawa and Ryuzo Kikushima, Nora Inu (Stray Dog) is the story of a young detective who goes on a search to find his gun after a pickpocket stole with the help of a veteran detective. The film is a precursor to the buddy-cop film with a mixture of film noir as it relates to two men stumbling into a criminal circuit that involves guns and theft. Starring Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Awaji, and Isao Kimura. Nora Inu is a riveting and provocative film from Akira Kurosawa.

Set in a very hot summer in rural areas of Tokyo, the film revolves around a young detective whose Colt pistol had been stolen by a pickpocket where it would be used in a series of shootings prompting him to team up with a veteran detective to find the pickpocket. It’s a film that is a bit of a mystery-suspense film but it’s also a film that is about these two men taking on a case as they’re very different in terms of experience and determination. The film’s script by Akira Kurosawa and Ryuzo Kikushima doesn’t just dwell into what is at stake but also a young detective’s folly and his desire for redemption as he felt he screwed things up.

During the course of the investigation, the detectives in Murakami (Toshiro Mifune) and the experienced Sato (Takashi Shimura) go through Tokyo as well as talk to those who might be involved where things become very complicated. The script also showcases a growing sense of immorality in the modern world as those who are connected to the suspect reveal their attempts to be good but are forced to do things to survive in a world that is becoming very cruel. The way the mystery and search for the pickpocket slowly unfolds but the payoff is very fulfilling in terms of its dramatic effect as it relates to those that Murakami and Sato meet and why they’re intrigued to go into the world of crime.

Kurosawa’s direction is quite intriguing for the way he takes this simple story and stretch it out into something that becomes more than it actually is while not losing sight of that simple scenario. Set largely in parts of rural, post-war Tokyo where a lot of the buildings are seen in the stages of being repaired or in ruins. The film has this look and feel of Japan changing into something that is a modern world as there is a key sequence during a baseball game as it plays into that awareness of a modern world that feels vital and vibrant which is in sharp contrast to the rural areas in Tokyo that is struggling to keep up with the changes as it’s something both Murakami and Sato are also dealing with but can adjust to the changes but it’s the growing sense of immorality that is troubling them.

Kurosawa’s approach to wide and medium shots are entrancing as it says a lot into the sense of a world that is changing but also into the look of the rural locations in Tokyo. Kurosawa’s compositions would play into that growing sense of immorality looming over modern, post-war Japan but also in the way it says into the growing conflict within Murakami who feels like he had done something wrong when he had his pistol stolen. Kurosawa’s approach to suspense in the third act where Murakami would finally catch the man who had been using the pistol for the shootings is among one of the key sequences in the film as it is also one of the most chilling. Especially into what is at stake and the hope that Murakami can bring to ordinary people in a world that is very corrupt where Kurosawa’s usage of slanted camera angles and close-ups come into play for that sequence. Overall, Kurosawa creates a compelling yet gripping film about two detectives trying to catch a thief through rural Tokyo.

Cinematographer Asakazu Nakai, with lighting by Choshiro Ishii, does excellent work with the film‘s black-and-white photography from the usage of natural lights for many of the film‘s daytime interior/exterior scenes as well as some stylish lights and moods for some scenes at night including a key scene set during the rain. Editors Toshio Goto and Yoshi Sugihara do brilliant work with the editing with its stylish usage of transition wipes as well as some rhythmic cutting that play into some of the film‘s suspenseful moments. Art director So Matsuyama does nice work with the look of the police station that Murakami and Sato work at as well as the places including the home of a suspect. The sound work of Fumio Yanoguchi is superb for not just for the atmosphere that is presented in some of the clubs and in the baseball park but also in the quieter moments in the film that says a lot for its suspense. The film’s music by Fumio Hayasaka is fantastic for its somber orchestral music that plays into the drama while the soundtrack features a lot of the orchestral-pop music of the times.

The film’s wonderful cast include some notable small roles from Minoru Chiaki as a clubhouse director, Ichiro Sugai as a hotel owner, Gen Shimizu as the chief inspector, Eiko Miyoshi as a girl’s mother who learns who her daughter has been hanging around with, and Keiko Awaji in a superb performance as a showgirl named Harumi who knows about the thief where she represents that conflict of morality that looms throughout Japan. Isao Kimura is excellent as the small-time thief known as Yusa who is a key major suspect in not just stealing Murakami’s pistol but also being the one to use it in the mysterious shootings.

Takashi Shimura is phenomenal as Detective Sato as an elderly yet experienced detective who aids Murakami in finding the gun while being this sort of man that can guide Murakami into what it means in being a detective as it is one of Shimura’s definitive roles. Finally, there’s Toshiro Mifune in a remarkable performance as Detective Murakami as this young detective dealing with the humiliation in having his gun stolen while trying to redeem himself in front of his colleagues as it’s a performance of sensitivity and humility that often isn’t seen from Mifune who also brings in a determination into his role while having great rapport with Shimura.

Nora Inu is a marvelous film from Akira Kurosawa that features top-notch performances from his regular actors in Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura. The film isn’t just an engaging detective film but also an intriguing study into two men dealing with a changing world set in post-war Tokyo where morals are starting to be pushed aside in favor of survival due to the eerie environments they live in. In the end, Nora Inu is an incredible film from Akira Kurosawa.

Akira Kurosawa Films: (Sanshiro Sugata) - (The Most Beautiful) - (Sanshiro Sugata Pt. 2) - (The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail) - No Regrets for Our Youth - (Those Who Make Tomorrow) - (One Wonderful Sunday) - Drunken Angel - (The Quiet Duel) - Scandal - Rashomon - The Idiot - Ikiru - The Seven Samurai - (I Live in Fear) - Throne of Blood - (The Lower Depths (1957 film)) - The Hidden Fortress - The Bad Sleep Well - Yojimbo - Sanjuro - High and Low - Red Beard - Dodesukaden - Dersu Uzala - Kagemusha - Ran - Dreams (1990 film) - (Rhapsody in August) - (Madadayo)

© thevoid99 2016

No Regrets for Our Youth

Directed and edited by Akira Kurosawa and screenplay by Eijiro Hisaita with additional work from Kurosawa and Keiji Matsuzaki, Waga seishun ni kuinashi (No Regrets for Our Youth) is the story of a professor’s daughter who copes with the many changes in her home country following her father‘s dismissal from a university over his views against Fascism. Based on the Takigawa Incident in 1933, the film is a look into the events that would shape the growth of Imperial Japan before World War II where a woman opposes the changes in her country. Starring Setsuko Hara, Susumu Fujita, Denjiro Okochi, and Takashi Shimura. Waga seishun ni kuinashi is a rich and captivating film from Akira Kurosawa.

Told in the span of twelve years from 1933 to the end of World War II in 1945, the film revolves the journey of a young woman from being a college professor’s daughter to becoming a suspect of espionage due to her husband’s activities to stop Japan from entering World War II. It plays into this young woman trying to find herself amidst these changes as she struggles to find an identity throughout the years in Japan’s history. The film’s screenplay does have a unique structure as the first act is set from 1933 to 1938 where Yukie Yagihara (Setsuko Hara) is this idealized professor’s daughter who looks into the many changes that is happening including student rallies and events that would force her to do things for herself.

The film’s second act is set largely in 1941 Tokyo where she tries to find independence on her own yet she meets an old friend and student of her father named Noge (Susumu Fujita) whom she always had fallen for. The film’s third isn’t about Noge’s actions to stop Japan from entering World War II but also its aftermath which has Yukie venturing into a more personal journey as it relates to Noge’s family. A family that she realizes hasn’t seen their son in years while having to endure the ridicule of their fellow villagers over their son’s actions. Yet, she would find a way to win them over where she would take great personal risk to get their approval as well as not be ashamed for what their son had done.

Akira Kurosawa’s direction is very intoxicating in not just the way he captures pre-war and war-era Japan where it is shot largely in Tokyo, Kyoto, and parts of rural Japan. While there are some wide shots of these locations, Kurosawa maintains that sense of intimacy into the film with the usage of close-ups and medium shots. Notably in scenes that involve Yukie and her parents along with being this object of affection for Noge and another friend in Itokawa (Akitake Kono) as the former is very passionate in his beliefs while the other is shy until he becomes a more serious individual in the film’s second act as a prosecutor. The direction also display that sense of melodrama as it relates to Yukie’s own confusion about what she wants to do as well as her time with Noge where she goes into mood swings yet it adds to her journey into finding herself.

Also serving as editor, Kurosawa would create some stylish dissolve montages to play into Yukie’s anguish as well as some rhythmic cuts for much of the film’s third act where Yukie tries to win over Noge’s parents. It would play into bits of melodrama but also showcase that sense of the unknown as it relates to what Yukie wants to do. It also has a bit of commentary on social classes where Yukie is from a bourgeoisie background of sorts while Noge comes from the world of farms and rice paddies. Yukie’s encounter to that world would be crucial to her development as well as providing some revelations about herself where Kurosawa would have the camera display these tight close-ups to showcase that sense of struggle but also an unlikely sense of fulfillment. Overall, Kurosawa creates an engaging and riveting drama about a woman trying to find herself during one of Japan’s most tumultuous periods in the 20th Century.

Cinematographer Asakazu Nakai does brilliant work with the film‘s black-and-white photography for much of the film‘s naturalistic look with many of the exteriors including that sense of murkiness for the scenes in the third act where Yukie tries to create rice paddies. Production designer Keiji Kitagawa does fantastic work with the look of Yukie‘s family home with its spacious rooms and countless books to the more decayed look of the home where Noge‘s parents live. The sound work of Isamu Suzuki does nice work with the sound as it play into the tranquility of the woods in Kyoto to more raucous sounds of Tokyo. The film’s music by Tadashi Hattori does amazing work with the sound with its approach to orchestral music that ranges from somber to playful while the soundtrack would also feature some classical pieces and piano sonatas.

The film’s incredible cast include some notable small roles from Kokuten Kodo and Haruko Sugimura as Noge’s parents, Hisako Hara as Itokawa’s mother, Masao Shimizu as a fellow professor in Hakokazi, and Takashi Shimura in a superb role as a corrupt police commissioner working for the government. Eiko Miyoshi is wonderful as Yukie’s mother who copes with seeing her daughter moving out while being aware that of Yukie’s feelings for Noge. Akitake Kono is excellent as Itokawa as a friend and admirer of Yukie who was also one of her father’s pupils as he would try to help them out later on only to deal with his own faults. Denjiro Okochi is fantastic as Yukie’s father Professor Yagihara as an idealistic professor who is dismissed from his post due to his anti-Fascist/anti-war views as he tries to do whatever he can to help his students as well as his daughter in her journey for independence.

Susumu Fujita is brilliant as Ryuichi Noge as a student of Yagihara who always had feelings for Yukie while being passionate about not wanting to go to war where he tries to do things illegally only to get caught just as his relationship with Yukie was starting to blossom. Finally, there’s Setsuko Hara in a phenomenal performance as Yukie Yagihara as this young woman has been defined as a good-hearted woman that helps people while pondering about her own future forcing her to go into her own quest for her identity in life along with revelations that would be the catalyst into find herself as it’s one of Hara’s finest performances.

Waga seishun ni kuinashi is a remarkable film from Akira Kurosawa that features a radiant performance from Setsuko Hara. The film isn’t just a unique character study of sorts of a woman trying to find herself during one of Japan’s most tumultuous periods. It’s also a film that showcases the great lengths that she would do in this journey. In the end, Waga seishun ni kuinashi is a rapturous film from Akira Kurosawa.

Akira Kurosawa Films: (Sanshiro Sugata) - (The Most Beautiful) - (Sanshiro Sugata Pt. 2) - (The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail) - (Those Who Make Tomorrow) - (One Wonderful Sunday) - Drunken Angel - (The Quiet Duel) - Stray Dog - Scandal - Rashomon - The Idiot - Ikiru - The Seven Samurai - (I Live in Fear) - Throne of Blood - (The Lower Depths (1957 film)) - The Hidden Fortress - The Bad Sleep Well - Yojimbo - Sanjuro - High and Low - Red Beard - Dodesukaden - Dersu Uzala - Kagemusha - Ran - Dreams (1990 film) - (Rhapsody in August) - (Madadayo)

© thevoid99 2016

The Idiot (1951 film)

Based on the novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Hakuchi (The Idiot) is the story of a man who returns from Okinawa following a stint at an asylum where he contends with another man for the affections of a beautiful woman. Directed and edited by Akira Kurosawa and screenplay by Kurosawa and Eijiro Hisaita, the film is an exploration into a man entering modern society following a period of war as he struggles with his new surroundings. Starring Toshiro Mifune, Setsuko Hara, Masayuki Mori, Yoshiko Kuga, Eijiro Yanagi, Chieko Higashiyama, and Takashi Shimura. Hakuchi is a compelling yet flawed film from Akira Kurosawa.

The film revolves a mentally-ill young man with a condition that allows him to say imbecilic things where he falls for a beautiful woman only contend with other men for her affections. It’s a film that plays into a man who exudes a sense of innocence as he is entranced by this woman but also gets the attention of another young woman who is intrigued by him. Even as he would rouse up the emotions of some who are aghast over the things he says as well as his actions though he doesn’t mean to do anything wrong. Yet, part of his strange actions is due to his own illness where he would go into an epileptic fit in case things get intense for him. It would play into a man who finds himself in the middle of something as he is in love with two women but is dealing with the presence of other men.

The film’s screenplay would play into the life of Kinji Kameda (Masayuki Mori) who has just been released from a mental hospital following his service in the war as he copes with his illness and what to do with his life where he would meet another former soldier in Denkichi Akama (Toshiro Mifune) who is also a man of great wealth. Yet, they come across the picture of a beautiful woman named Taeko Nasu (Setsuko Hara) as Akama knows her and wants to marry her. Yet, she is having an affair with another man whom is attached to Ayako (Yoshiko Kuga) whom Kameda is fascinated with. Thus, things become complicated as there is a lot that happens but things get messy and all of these things of who Kameda should be with would make the story meander at times. Yet, there is a reason as it’s really a truncated version where there’s more that is out there in the story but the result would only be a teaser of who some of these people are.

Akira Kurosawa’s direction is very intriguing for the way he captures a simple drama told in the span of an entire season where it’s all about attachments and what people want where this young imbecile is caught in the middle of this drama. Much of it is told in a very intimate manner with a lot of close-ups, medium shots, and some wide-shots for large crowd scenes that includes a birthday party for Taeko where Kameda would tell her a story as it becomes very dramatic. Even as Kurosawa would create these scenes and moments that do play into a sense of longing or anguish that is looming with Kameda either being used as an excuse or the one who precipitated these actions. While there are scenes that are quite long and has elements of suspense and tension in the drama. It’s a film where there is a lot more to be said but there’s elements that keep it from being far more interesting.

Serving as the film’s editor, Kurosawa would create some stylish cuts including some transition wipes but there are elements where the transition wipes become jarring and there’s moments in the film where it meanders in its pacing. With the aid of editor T. Saito, the film which had an original running time of 265 minutes was re-cut by Shochiku studios into a 166-minute running time against Kurosawa’s wishes. As a result, the truncated version not only features a lot of flaws in the story but also raises question into some of the back stories of the characters in the film. Overall, Kurosawa creates a solid yet flawed drama about an idiot who touches the hearts of the people he meets in his life.

Cinematographer Toshio Ubukata does excellent work with the film‘s black-and-white photography as it plays into the snowy look of suburban Tokyo and other places where the lighting is key to scenes set in Akama‘s home. Art director So Matsuyama, with set decorators Genzo Komiya, Shohei Sekine, and Ushitaro Shimada, does fantastic work with the look of the homes that Kameda would live in including the inn run by the family he‘s staying at and the shabby home of Akama. The sound work of Yoshisaburo Imo does nice work with the sound to play to some of the parties and places the characters go to. The film’s music by Fumio Hayasaka is superb for its orchestral-based pieces that play into the drama and some of the light-hearted moments including a couple of classical pieces that are used in the film.

The film’s amazing cast include some notable small roles from Noriko Sengoku as Ayako’s cynical sister Takako, Eijiro Yanagi as the friend of Ayako’s father, Chieko Higashiyama as Ayako’s mother, Minoru Chiaki as Taeko’s lover Kayama who is revealed to be a coward, and Takashi Shimura in a superb performance as Ayako’s father Ono who takes Ameda into his home as he reveals the fortune that Ameda has. Yoshiko Kuga is excellent as Ayako as a young woman who represents the sense of innocence but also realism as someone who has experienced a lot yet has a hard time opening to the goodness that Kameda offers. Setsuko Hara is fantastic as Takeo as this beautiful but troubled woman who is amazed by Kameda’s own kindness and flaws as she becomes tormented and possessive about Kameda as she would quarrel with Ayako over him.

Toshiro Mifune is brilliant as Akama as this man served the war and has acquired some money as he finds himself competing against Kameda over Takeo’s affections yet deals with the anguish over hurting someone who is actually a good person. Finally, there’s Masayuki Mori in a phenomenal performance as Kinji Kameda as this mentally-ill man with a strange ailment who exudes a sense of innocence and strange wisdom as he tries to get people to see things in a different light though he would unknowingly cause trouble as it’s a very mesmerizing performance from Mori.

Hakuchi is a stellar yet flawed film from Akira Kurosawa. Despite amazing performances from Masayuki Mori, Toshiro Mifune, Setsuko Hara, and Yoshiko Kuga, it is a film that has a lot of ideas and themes that play into the goodness of humanity in a troubled post-war setting. Due to the fact that its original 265-minute cut will never see the light of day and the truncated version of this film is the only one that is available. It’s a film that reveals what could’ve been if Kurosawa had complete control as it’s only a glimpse of what he would do to Dostoevsky’s famed novel. In the end, Hakuchi is a terrific but underwhelming film from Akira Kurosawa.

Akira Kurosawa Films: (Sanshiro Sugata) - (The Most Beautiful) - (Sanshiro Sugata Pt. 2) - (The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail) - No Regrets for Our Youth - (Those Who Make Tomorrow) - (One Wonderful Sunday) - Drunken Angel - (The Quiet Duel) - Stray Dog - Scandal - Rashomon - Ikiru - The Seven Samurai - (I Live in Fear) - Throne of Blood - (The Lower Depths (1957 film)) - The Hidden Fortress - The Bad Sleep Well - Yojimbo - Sanjuro - High and Low - Red Beard - Dodesukaden - Dersu Uzala - Kagemusha - Ran - Dreams (1990 film) - (Rhapsody in August) - (Madadayo)

© thevoid99 2015

Scandal (1950 film)

Directed and edited by Akira Kurosawa and written by Kurosawa and Ryuzo Kikushima, Shubun (Scandal) is the story of a painter’s supposed affair with a famous singer becomes scandal as he tries to fight the press in court where he deals with a lawyer who is forced to play both sides. The film is an exploration of the growing moral decline that is surrounding Japan in the early post-war years as a man tries to fight for his honor with an attorney pulled in two different directions to find justice. Starring Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Shirley Yamaguchi, and Noriko Sengoku. Shubun is a compelling and touching film from Akira Kurosawa.

A painter’s encounter with a famous singer prompts a tabloid magazine to make claims that the two are having an affair where the painter sues the magazine for telling lies as he hires a weak-willed lawyer who finds himself being coerced by the magazine’s editor. It’s a film that explores the world of post-war Japan where a painter and a singer find themselves caught in a lie made by a popular tabloid magazine as the painter wanted an apology. When the painter hires this aging lawyer who is known for having a lot of bad luck and has an ailing daughter, things get troubled when the lawyer finds himself being tempted by what the magazine’s editor would offer as a way to kill the lawsuit.

The film’s screenplay explores this growing sense of immorality as the painter only met the singer on a mountain road because she missed her bus and was going into the hotel the two were stating. They had a conversation where a photographer and a journalist would create a story and chaos ensues. Even where this attorney named Hiruta (Takashi Shimura) thinks he can help the artist Ichiro Aoye (Toshiro Mifune) but a meeting with the magazine editor Asai (Shinichi Himori) would create trouble by bribing the already unlucky Hiruta. Once Aoye discovers what kind of man Hiruta is as well as know about Hiruta’s family life which would prompt Aoye to see that Hiruta could do good no matter who severe his life is.

Akira Kurosawa’s direction is quite simple in terms of the compositions he creates as well as the intimacy he would maintain for much of the dramatic moments in the film. While much of it is shot in Tokyo and areas outside of the city, it plays into something that feels modern where Japan is caught up in the world of celebrity. Kurosawa’s usage of close-ups and medium shots help play into the drama as well as scenes set in the magazine office where the editor and his staff conspire to make money as it plays into this growing sense of immorality in Japan. Also serving as the film’s editor, Kurosawa’s stylish approach to transition wipes and a mesmerizing dissolve montage would play into this sense of cultural change where everyone is up in arms about reading Aoye’s supposed affair with the singer Miyako Saijo (Shirley Yamaguchi). The film’s climax revolves around this trial where it is clear that there is a circus atmosphere that plays into this sense of changing times but there is still a place where the old rules can make a difference as it plays into what Hiruta is dealing with. Overall, Kurosawa creates a fascinating and engaging drama about two men fighting for the truth in a world where morality is lost.

Cinematographer Toshiro Ubukata does excellent work with the film‘s black-and-white photography to play into the growing sense of modernism in Japan as well as some unique lighting schemes for scenes set at night where it has elements of film noir in some of the images. Art director Tatsuo Hamada does fantastic work with the look of the magazine offices as well as the dilapidated place where Hiruta does his work. Costume designer Bunjiro Suzuki does nice work with the costumes from the ragged look of Hiruta to the stylish suits that Asai wears. The sound work of Saburo Omura is terrific to play into the sounds of the city as the quieter moments in Aoye‘s meeting with Saijo at the hotel. The film’s music by Fumio Hayasaka is amazing for its score as it features some somber string-based orchestral music to elements of sweeping themes to play into the drama and sense of modernism in the film.

The film’s superb cast includes some notable small roles from Fumiko Okamura as Saijo’s mother, Masao Shimizu as the trial judge, Bokuzen Hidari as a drunk Aoye and Hiruta meet at a bar, Sugisaku Aoyama as Asai’s lawyer, Noriko Sengoku as Aoye’s assistant/model Sumie, Shinichi Himori as the smug and vile magazine editor Asai, and Yoko Katsuragi in a wonderful performance as Hiruta’s ailing daughter Masako who is dealing with tuberculosis as she looks for her father to do something good. Shirley Yamaguchi is terrific as the famous singer Miyako Saijo who is someone that wants privacy as a simple picture would cause some trouble to her career as she would befriend Aoye and Hiruta’s family. Toshiro Mifune is brilliant as Ichiro Aoye as a painter who finds himself in a scandal as he fights for the truth while coping with his reputation and honor. Finally, there’s Takashi Shimura in a phenomenal performance as Hiruta as a down-on-his-luck attorney who is assigned to help Aoye as he struggles with his own debts where he is coerced by Asai to drop the suit for money as well as his daughter’s illness where he struggles with his own conscious to do what is right.

Shubun is a remarkable film from Akira Kurosawa that features great performances from Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura. It’s a film that explores the growing sense of immorality during the early post-war years in Japan in a world driven by tabloids and greed. Especially when two men are forced to fight against this new world order to maintain some decency that is left from the old world. In the end, Shubun is a sensational film from Akira Kurosawa.

Akira Kurosawa Films: (Sanshiro Sugata) - (The Most Beautiful) - (Sanshiro Sugata Pt. 2) - (The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail) - No Regrets for Our Youth - (Those Who Make Tomorrow) - (One Wonderful Sunday) - Drunken Angel - (The Quiet Duel) - Stray Dog - Rashomon - The Idiot (1951 film) - Ikiru - The Seven Samurai - (I Live in Fear) - Throne of Blood - (The Lower Depths (1957 film)) - The Hidden Fortress - The Bad Sleep Well - Yojimbo - Sanjuro - High and Low - Red Beard - Dodesukaden - Dersu Uzala - Kagemusha - Ran - Dreams (1990 film) - (Rhapsody in August) - (Madadayo)

© thevoid99 2015

Drunken Angel

Directed by Akira Kurosawa and written by Kurosawa and Keinosuke Uegusa, Yoidore tenshi (Drunken Angel) is the story about an alcoholic doctor who tries to help a yakuza boss suffering from tuberculosis. The film is an exploration into how a man tries to help a much more troubled individual to find redemption just as his old crime boss is returning to their turf. Starring Takashi Shimura, Toshiro Mifune, and Reisaburo Yakamoto. Yoidore tenshi is a harrowing yet engrossing film from Akira Kurosawa.

When someone is in trouble and has no one to go to, there is always someone there to try and help out. In this film, it is about a young yakuza boss who runs a small town near a polluted swamp as he finds himself feeling ill. By going to this local doctor, the boss known as Matsunaga (Toshiro Mifune) learns that he is suffering from tuberculosis as he has no idea how to cope with the news as he continues to drink and party against the doctor’s orders. Adding to Matsunaga’s troubles is the return of his old crime boss Okada (Reisaburo Yakamoto) who regains his position as yakuza head while trying to pursue the doctor’s young nurse whom she was once an acquaintance of his. With his illness worsening where Okada would take advantage of that for his own gain, it would allow Matsunaga to try and gain some redemption.

The screenplay by Akira Kurosawa and Keinosuke Uegusa explores a young man succumbing to illness and how he’s unable to cope with it where he goes into a death wish as he believes there’s no hope for him. Yet, the film begins with Matsunaga going to Dr. Sanada (Takashi Shimura) to treat a bullet would he got on his hand after a fight with a rival gang. Dr. Sanada is a very blunt individual who always has something to say whether people like it or not yet he’s also an alcoholic. Despite Dr. Sanada’s urge to drink and living in a nearby slum with a polluted swamp where he could’ve taken a job at prestigious clinic. He is someone that is eager to help out people no matter how impatient or unruly they can be. In Matsunaga, here is someone Dr. Sanada knows that might die and not seem to care about it. At first, the two men don’t seem to need each other but Matsunaga’s illness worsens while Dr. Sanada starts to become increasingly concerned.

While there are elements of film noir in not just its setting but also in some of the dialogue that Kurosawa and Uegusa writes as it features some very crass language where characters call themselves “assholes” and “bitch” to each other. It’s mostly a drama about a man dealing with his own demons and trying to find redemption in the harsh world of crime that he’s been in for years. The film’s third act is about Okada’s return and how he manages to take over this small town that he used to run where the locals shun Matsunaga. Only Dr. Sanada would take him in as he would face off against Okada to protect his nurse while Matsunaga tries to intervene. A face-off between Matsunaga and Okada does eventually happen as it is more about Matsunaga seeking redemption for his wrongdoings.

Kurosawa’s direction is very stylish for the way he presents the film as a lot of it’s nighttime scenes are very eerie while there’s plaintive guitar music playing in the background to establish a landscape that is quite drab and filled with mosquitoes. It’s all part of Kurosawa’s approach to film noir although it’s a much more different film as he maintains some intimacy in his framing and how he places actors into the frame. The direction is also quite satirical in some respects as it is set in post-war Japan where young Japanese are in an area where there’s people living in a state of decadence unaware of some of the dreariness in their environment that includes this polluted swamp. While Matsunaga used to be a man that runs this dreary yet active slum where he can get a drink for free or take a flower. All of that changes once Okada returns where he makes his return by playing the guitar to a song from his past.

The direction also contains that air of death as it does loom in the film since it relates to Matsunaga’s deteriorating condition that includes a chilling dream sequence. It’s definitely a sequence that really plays to the sense of terror that Matsunaga is facing if he doesn’t stray from his self-destructive behavior as it does play into the third act. The confrontation between Matsunaga and Okada is quite elaborate not just in its suspense and action but also what Matsunaga is trying to gain in this eventual fight. Yet, the aftermath is quite somber as it returns to Dr. Sanada and his view of how everything had happened. Overall, Kurosawa creates a truly engaging yet haunting film about redemption and death.

Cinematographer Takeo Ito does brilliant work with the film‘s black-and-white photography to set a chilling atmosphere for the scenes at night with some lighting schemes by Kinzo Yoshizawa while the daytime interior and exterior scenes are presented in a more natural setting. Editor Akikazu Kono does excellent work with the editing as it‘s very stylized from its use of wipes and dissolves for transitions along with rhythmic cuts for some of the film‘s dramatic moments. Production designer Takashi Matsuyama does terrific work with the look of the town from the polluted swamp to the bar that Dr. Sanada and Matsunaga frequent to.

The sound work of Wataru Konuma is wonderful for the atmosphere it creates from the intimate moments at Dr. Sanada‘s home to the bars and dance halls Matsunaga goes to. The film’s music by Ryoichi Hattori and Fumio Hayasaka is amazing for its somber yet lush orchestral music to capture the drama along with the plaintive classical guitar to set the mood along with some upbeat jazz music for the scenes in the dance halls.

The film’s cast is superb as it features some notable small roles from Eitaro Shindo as the bar waitress Takahama, Michiyo Kogure as Matsunaga’s girlfriend Nanae, and Chieko Nakakita as the nurse who assists Dr. Sanada. Reisaburo Yamamoto is excellent as just-released crime boss Okada who decides to take control of the town and take advantage of Matsunaga’s illness. Takashi Shimura is brilliant as Dr. Sanada as a man who is quite helpful to the people around him despite his reputation as an alcoholic as he tries to help out Matsunaga while being very upfront with him about his condition. Finally, there’s Toshiro Mifune in an incredible performance as the yakuza boss Matsunaga as Mifune brings a true sense of power to his role as a man who means business but also a chilling vulnerability over the fact that he’s facing death as it’s definitely a real breakthrough for Mifune early in his career.

Yoidore Tenshi is a marvelous film from Akira Kurosawa that features phenomenal performances from Takashi Shimura and Toshiro Mifune. The film is definitely one of Kurosawa’s early triumphs in the way he explores humanity at its most troubled as well as setting it in a noir presentation. It’s also a film that unveils the beginning one of the great director-actor collaborations in Kurosawa and Mifune where the film serves as a breakthrough for the legendary Japanese actor. In the end, Yoidore Tenshi is a remarkable film from Akira Kurosawa.

Akira Kurosawa Films: (Sanshiro Sugata) - (The Most Beautiful) - (Sanshiro Sugata Pt. 2) - (The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail) - No Regrets for Our Youth - (Those Who Make Tomorrow) - (One Wonderful Sunday) - (The Quiet Duel) - Stray Dog - Scandal (1950 film) - Rashomon - The Idiot (1951 film) - Ikiru - The Seven Samurai - (I Live in Fear) - Throne of Blood - (The Lower Depths (1957 film)) - The Hidden Fortress - The Bad Sleep Well - Yojimbo - Sanjuro - High and Low - Red Beard - Dodesukaden - Dersu Uzala - Kagemusha - Ran - Dreams (1990 film) - (Rhapsody in August) - (Madadayo)

© thevoid99 2013

Blind Spot 2013: Red Beard

Based on a collection of short stories by Shugoro Yamamoto as well as Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Insulted and the Injured, Akahige (Red Beard) is the story about a tumultuous relationship between a doctor and his young trainee in the 19th Century. Directed by Akira Kurosawa and screenplay by Kurosawa, Masato Ide, Ryuzo Kikushima, and Hideo Oguni, the film explores the complexity of a man trying to teach a younger man about what it means to be a doctor. Starring Toshiro Mifune, Yuzo Kayama, Kyoko Kagawa, and Takashi Shimura. Akahige is an incredibly rich film from Akira Kurosawa.

In being a doctor, one has to think about the person in need of help instead of thinking for itself. In this film, it is about a young medical student from the city who finds himself working under the tutelage of a clinic director in a small yet poor town. For this young man who arrives as an idealist who had been trained in the best schools, being in a clinic in a poor part of town seems beneath him. Yet, he goes into great lengths into what it takes to be not just a doctor but a man people can count on. Notably in the encounters with death and such that would force this young man to realize what is right while he would make decisions that would be beneficial in the path he takes whether it would be the right one or not.

The film’s screenplay does have a traditional structure of sorts in the way it plays to the evolution of Dr. Noboru Yasumoto (Yuzo Kayama) and his understanding of what it really means to be a doctor. The first act involves his first meeting with the head of this clinic in Dr. Kyojo Niide aka Red Beard (Akira Kurosawa) who is this very compassionate individual who puts his patients first instead of himself as he’s also a bit of an eccentric with who has rules about how he runs the clinic. Dr. Yasumoto’s journey under Red Beard’s tutelage would play for much of the film’s first and second act where Dr. Yasumoto finds himself taking part in a surgery and watch two old men on their deathbeds. While Dr. Yasumoto does struggle with his environment as well as the fact that he’s working in a clinic that is going through budget cuts while many of the patients are very poor.

One key moment in the film’s second act is when Dr. Yasumoto walks into town with Red Beard where examines various people with Dr. Yasumoto’s help where they come across a brothel that included a sick and troubled 12-year old girl named Otoyo (Terumi Niki) who becomes Dr. Yasumoto’s first patient. Through Red Beard’s guidance, Dr. Yasumoto finds himself dealing with this troubled young girl as he has to go into methods that forces him to stray away from what he’s been taught from schools and go directly into the person. It would become a key moment in Dr. Yasumoto’s character development as well as this young girl who starts to become part of this clinic while befriending a young thief. While Dr. Yasumoto is groomed to become an assistant for a more renowned doctor in the city, he finds himself pondering about the decision he’s to make. While the outcome is somewhat predictable, it really more establishes into the kind of person Dr. Yasumoto has become through Red Beard.

Akira Kurosawa’s direction is absolutely engaging in the way he presents life in late 19th Century Japan as it is in a state of transition where things are changing as it involves themes ranging from existentialism, old ideas versus new, and humanism. While Kurosawa puts a lot of these themes into the forefront of his film, he does it with an air of subtlety as he knows that the audience is in for something that will have them go into discussions. Some of it is done with a lot of tenderness not just in the framing where Kurosawa uses the widescreen format to such effect. It’s also shown in small, simple moments such as moments where characters are interacting outside where the doctors and nurses all come together as if they are a family. A bit dysfunctional at times but a family that treats those who are sick with great care. The patients themselves may be those who are poor and neglected but Red Beard always find ways to tend to their needs.

A lot of Kurosawa’s approach to framing is very unique in the way he puts actors in a group shot whether it involves three or four people or a large group. A lot of it is done with some medium shots and close-ups in order to maintain an air of intimacy. There is also an interesting sequence in which a dying patient named Sahachi (Tsutomu Yamazaki) recalls about his past involving the love of his life and how he presumed to have lost her. It is an entrancing sequence that would play to Dr. Yasumoto’s development while there is also a scene that proves that as caring as Red Beard is. He’s also someone who is willing to fight for what is right such as beating up a gang of bandits with his bare hands just to help out this young girl. There are also some stylistic moments in not just Kurosawa’s use of tracking shots but also in his editing as he uses some dissolves, transition wipes, jump-cuts, and fade-outs to help flesh out the story and play out some of its drama. Overall, Kurosawa creates a truly heartfelt and powerful drama about life and helping those in need.

Cinematographers Asakazu Nakai and Takao Saito do brilliant work with the film‘s black-and-white photography to capture some of the beauty of the exterior scenes in the winter to more dreary scenes in Sahachi‘s story that includes some entrancing lighting by Hiromitsu Mori that adds an atmosphere to some of the film‘s interiors and nighttime exterior scenes. Art director Yoshiro Muraki does excellent work with the set pieces from the look of the clinic and some of its exteriors as well as the more polished look of Dr. Yasumoto‘s family home. The sound by Shin Watari is fantastic for some of the chilling moments of the film including a scene where Otoyo and the nurses call a boy‘s name through a well. The film’s music by Masaru Sato is just intoxicating for its serene yet somber orchestral score to play up the drama that is happening along with a few moments that are upbeat as it’s really a mesmerizing score.

The film’s cast is just amazing as it features appearances from Takashi Shimura as a medical administrator, Kyoko Kagawa as a troubled woman who is quarantined by Red Beard, Miyuki Kuwano as the head nurse of the clinic, Yoshio Tsuchiya and Tatsuyoshi Ehara as a couple of doctors in the clinic, Reiko Dan as a nurse who is taking care of the quarantined woman, Kamatari Fujiwara as the ailing Rokusuke, Akemi Negishi as Sahachi’s wife Okuni, and Tsutomu Yamazaki as the ailing yet generous local Sahachi. Terumi Niki is wonderful as the troubled 12-year old girl Otoyo as she discovers a world where there is such thing as good in the world.

Yuzo Kayama is marvelous as Dr. Noburo Yasumoto as a young man who arrives as an arrogant man who felt disrespected by going into a clinic only to realize the demands is needed to be a doctor. Finally, there’s Toshiro Mifune in a phenomenal performance in the title role as a man who is filled with great sensitivity and patience to those he helps while guiding Dr. Yasumoto by showing him what takes to be there for those in need as it’s one of Mifune’s finest performances of his career.

Akahige is an outstanding film from Akira Kurosawa that features a tremendous performance from Toshiro Mifune. The film is definitely one of Kurosawa’s exquisite works as well as one of his most enduring dramas that explores a man guiding a younger man into displaying the attributes to be a doctor. It’s a film that showcases the goodness of what humanity can bring despite the cruel circumstances these characters go into as it unveils a side of Kurosawa that isn’t seen much in his films. In the end, Akahige is a touching yet exhilarating film from Akira Kurosawa.

Akira Kurosawa Films: (Sanshiro Sugata) - (The Most Beautiful) - (Sanshiro Sugata Pt. 2) - (The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail) - No Regrets for Our Youth - (Those Who Make Tomorrow) - (One Wonderful Sunday) - Drunken Angel - (The Quiet Duel) - Stray Dog - Scandal (1950 film) - Rashomon - The Idiot (1951 film) - Ikiru - The Seven Samurai - (I Live in Fear) - Throne of Blood - (The Lower Depths (1957 film)) - The Hidden Fortress - The Bad Sleep Well - Yojimbo - Sanjuro - High and Low - Dodesukaden - Dersu Uzala - Kagemusha - Ran - Dreams (1990 film) - (Rhapsody in August) - (Madadayo)

© thevoid99 2013

Dodesukaden

Based on the book The Town Without Seasons by Shugoro Yamamoto, Dodesukaden is the story about the daily lives of a group of people living in the Tokyo slums struggling to survive. Directed by Akira Kurosawa and screenplay by Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, and Shinobu Hashimoto, the film marks Kurosawa’s first feature shot in color to capture the lives of different people living in a world that is away from the more vibrant world of Tokyo. Starring Yoshitaka Zushi, Kin Sugai, and Toshiyuki Tonomura. Dodesukaden is an extraordinary film from the legendary Akira Kurosawa.

The film is essentially a loose collection of stories about a group of people who live near the Tokyo slums as the film explores the lives of these people in the span of a few days. Among them is a young mentally-challenged man (Yoshitaka Zushi) who pretends to be a train operator since he lives next door to a train rail with his mother. Other characters include a reliable old man who tries to help as many people as he can, a reclusive man who is estranged from his wife, two drunken men whose wives decide to swap husbands for a while, a man with a twitch and an unappreciated wife, a young woman who works for an abusive alcoholic uncle, and a father and son dealing with starvation as they dream for a better world.

The film’s lack of conventional plot does allow Akira Kurosawa and his co-writers in Hideo Oguni and Shinobu Hashimoto to create numerous stories about these people as it includes a small group of women who are the center of the slum village washing clothes or whatever as they comment on everything that is around them. Some of these stories about these people do have character developments that would help advance the stories such as the old man trying to help out various people including a suicidal man, a violent man swinging a sword, and eventually the people in his village through whatever situations. Then there’s the girl Hatsutaro (Kunie Tanaka) who is dealing with her uncle’s abuse where she doesn’t say a word until the last ten minutes where she speaks about why she did what she did to a delivery boy in relation to her uncle’s abuse.

The film’s loose screenplay with its lack of structure and storytelling conventions is at times hard to follow because there isn’t anything that is synonymous with traditional screen schematics. Through Akira Kurosawa’s direction, it allows the film to be told visually to establish a world that is unique and also imaginative. Shot in a 1:33:1 full-frame aspect ratio, Kurosawa allows the frame to say a lot with its close-up and medium shots while maintaining a sense of theatricality in some of the performances. Even in scenes that play to certain fantasies such as the father and son discussing their idea of their dream home or the backgrounds around the slums where it has an air of surrealism though the film is shot largely in an actual slum village.

With the use of mostly unknowns, with the exception of a few Kurosawa regulars, Kurosawa is able to create performance that is natural such as the character Ruku-chan who opens the film with praying to Buddha for his mother as he leaves to work in his imaginary train station and the film ends with him in an appropriate manner as if he just finished his work day. Throughout the entirety of the film, Kurosawa is always taking his time to explore each character and their own issues where some its comical while others are quite dramatic. Notably in scenes where there’s something bad could be happening but Kurosawa always finds a way to not play to the schematics of suspense in order to let it play in an unexpected way. Overall, the result is a truly rich and hypnotic film from Akira Kurosawa.

Cinematographers Yasumichi Fukuzawa and Takao Saito do amazing work with the colorful cinematography from the colorful sunny exteriors and nighttime scenes to the way some of the interiors are lit including the array of color windows in Ruku-chan‘s home. Editor Reiko Kaneko does nice work with the editing by essentially keeping it straightforward to the cutting without a lot of style while creating some seamless transitions to move one story to another. Art directors Shinobu and Yoshiro Muraki do brilliant work with the look of the homes many of the characters live in while Ruku-chan’s home is filled with children’s drawing of trains as it plays to the character’s innocence.

Costume designer Miyuki Suzuki does excellent work with the costumes to play up the characters‘ environment where some look shabby while other try to look respectable. Sound effects editor Ichiro Minawa does superb work with the sound effects to create Ruku-chan‘s sense of fantasy to play out his idea that he‘s working on a train. The film’s score by Toru Takemitsu is wonderful for its mixture of folk-driven music with guitars, harmonicas, and flutes to more orchestral flourishes where the latter plays out a lot of the film’s drama.

The film’s cast is phenomenal as it features a lot of non-actors in the role while Kurosawa veterans like Kunie Tanaka as the troubled Hatsutaro and Kin Sugai as her ailing aunt are very good in their small roles. The real standout is Yoshitaka Zushi as the mentally-challenged Ruku-chan whose charismatic and innocent performance brings a lot of joy to the film.

While it may be considered to be minor Akira Kurosawa in terms of the work he did in his later years, Dodesukaden is still an enriching and delightful film from the Japanese master. Fans of loosely-told stories will enjoy this for its unconventional storytelling while fans of Akira Kurosawa will see this as a worthwhile experiment though it falls short with many of his samurai and othe dramatic features. In the end, Dodesukaden is a beautiful and enchanting film from Akira Kurosawa.

Akira Kurosawa Films: (Sanshiro Sugata) - (The Most Beautiful) - (Sanshiro Sugata Pt. II) - (The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail) - No Regrets on Our Youth - (One Wonderful Sunday) - Drunken Angel - (The Quiet Duel) - Stray Dog - Scandal (1950 film) - Rashomon - The Idiot (1951 film) - Ikiru - The Seven Samurai - (I Live in Fear) - Throne of Blood - (The Lower Depths (1957 film)) - The Hidden Fortress - The Bad Sleep Well - Yojimbo - Sanjuro - High and Low - Red Beard - Dersu Uzala - Kagemusha - Ran - Dreams (1990 film) - (Rhapsody in August) - (Madadayo)

© thevoid99 2012