Hakuchi (The Idiot) (1951)

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  May 5, 2011

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  Uma obra prima do mestre Kurosawa

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  May 25, 2008

  sanjurosamurai

  even though this is one of kurosawa's more criticized films, i really liked it quite a bit. the acting and incoherence of the plot are the things most often criticized, and while i agree the love story lost its focus a few times, i actually found the acting to be very engaging. ... read more as with most kurosawa films, the script was the strongest point, with diologue that was complete and poetic at times. i do feel that they could have cut another 20 minutes off the film, but this final product is an already much trimmed down version, from the original 4 1/2 hour film kurosawa intended to this 2hr and 46 minute final product. overall, another beautiful film by the master of directors.

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  May 23, 2008

  garyX

  Akira Kurosawa's spin on Dostoyevsky sees a man traumatised by his war time experiences resulting in a new appreciation for life. His openness and honesty acts as a reflection of the hypocrisy and selfishness of those around him, some deriding him as an idiot and others hating hi... read morem for exposing the faults in themselves. These qualities inspire romantic feelings in two women however and the resulting love triangles lead to tragedy. Kurosawa's eye for beautiful cinematography is in evidence as always, particularly during the scenes by candlelight during Toshiro Mifune's descent into madness. There is also some great social commentary; the female characters for me were the most interesting and characterful, playing off Kameda's naivety really well. Unfortunately the idea of Masayaki Mori's stiff, awkward and wide-eyed idealist inspiring such devotion in two beautiful and worldly women didn't really ring true for me, and as a whole it too often reminded me of period romantic melodrama, not exactly my favourite of genres. This combined with it's near 3 hour length left me struggling to stay awake. Some great moments, but I felt the story didn't flow very well so it left me a little cold.

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  November 18, 2011

  gevvysidhu

  Having read Dostoevsky's novels, it would be very difficult for me to even imagine how to adapt one of them into a film and still have the essence of Dostoevsky's writing. Kurosawa's film, cut against his wishes, has a very gothic element which remains in memory long after having... read more seen it. The acting style is very different from all of his other films. It is very restrained, which allows the sudden and unexpected outbursts to have effect. There is an overall sombre, gloomy, and ominous atmosphere which definitely establishes that 'gothic' feeling I got from the film. The cold winter and abundant snow provide the perfect setting for a film which intends to show how cold and dark the human world has become. This film is an achievement in style and cinematography, containing a lot of magnificent shots and is a further testament to Kurosawa's continued grasp of his craft in that point of his career. It is a shame that Kurosawa's original 4-hour cut does not exist, but this film has it's great moments which make me so angry at the studios who cut his films (and at studios in general, whose money-hungry producers cut quantity, in favour of pleasing feeble-minded audiences, and do away with quality as well in that process. Would you cut Wagner's operas to appease time limits? Would you cut Faulkner's Sound and Fury because it is too long? However, this is a topic for another time and place). Unfortunately, as the film is, it is difficult to sit through and frankly unbearable at some parts. The film was too focused on a love story and I have a feeling (from watching his other films) that Kurosawa's version would have been more about just that and presented it much more realistically and complexly. The relationship between Akama and Taeko seemed to be confusing and contrived, which is something that should have been built up a little instead of forcing it. A number of relationships in the film were unclear and seemed 'put together' or arranged, not organic at all. This again is just a guess, but Kurosawa's original would have been a lot more different. It was particularly the ending of the film that seemed to carry no weight whatsoever and felt contrived to me. Kurosawa's 4-hour version might have been considered one of his masterpieces along with the film that he made after it (Rashomon) and the film that came after that (Ikiru). It would've added yet more glory to the works of Kurosawa as a whole and might've been the best Dostoevsky adaptation ever made. Things did not turn out this way, and we are forced to dream of what this film might have been.

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  October 24, 2008

  jimbotender

  Hara is the sheer benevolence of the film.You do await the breaking point just like the novel's mystical eccentricities.Kurosawa guides the dramatic community to far beyond limits and stretching a bleak,ominous,malevolent environment.A perfect cinematography and I will give it 6 ... read morestars after I grab the 5-hour edition I'm still searching for.....

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  December 13, 2010

  kingmob6

  Watched this one in an effort to expand my knowledge of early Kurosawa films, much to my chagrin. I honestly had to take at least three passes at this film before slogging my way through it.
  
  From what I have since read online, a familiarity with the Dostoevsky source material m... read moreight increase one's enjoyment of this one, but since I went into this blind and was so put off, I certainly don't foresee myself re-visiting any time soon.
  
  Overall I have to say that I never quite understood the jealousy and envy people around 'the fool' at the center of the film felt.
  
  Perhaps it's just not for me.

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  March 19, 2010

  rickrudge

  Hakuchi (1951)
  
  This movie is loosely based on the novel "The Idiot" by Fyodor Dosteoyevski. It's almost three hours long and that is the cut version. But Kurisawa doesn't make it near as ass-numbing as it sounds. However it is a very sad, melencoly movie, well, like many of h... read moreis movies.
  
  Kinji Kameda (Masayuki Mori) wakes up screaming on the boat from Okinawa. He's a damaged, frightened, but compassionate man, who admits that he's still very ill. Kinji had been tried, and was about to be executed as a war criminal, and at the last minute, was pulled from the firing squad, retried, and released.
  
  That experience had a strong impact on what Kinji felt about things from there on out. He is able to look right into a person's soul and feel their pain. And he has this child-like honesty about the people he meets.
  
  He befriends Denkichi Akama (Toshirô Mifune) on the train heading for his home in Sapporo. Denkichi is kind of a thug with a short fuse. Denkichi sort of takes Kinji under his wing while he's with him, which is good because most everyone else seems to make fun of the poor guy. That is, until Kinji falls for his girl Taeko Nasu (Setsuko Hara). Kinji is able to see the girl's pain more than any man in town.
  
  Taeko has been the mistress of a middle-aged businessman since she was a girl and now that she's old, he is trying to marry her off by paying a dowery to many of the suiters. Although she's despised by the community, she's also desired by the men and the money ain't bad either. Needless to say, Taeko has a lot of anger in her about all of this.
  
  What I really liked about the movie was the scenes of Hokkaido prefecture and the Winter Festival that is held in Sapporo, the sister city of Portland, Oregon, where I live. We've seen a lot of it during modern times and it was cool to see it photographed in the early 50's.

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  February 23, 2008

  thrusz

  This is considered Akira Kurosawa's failure? Gosh, I liked it even more than some of the other Kurosawa's I've seen...AND I LOVE KUROSAWA!
  
  Okay, I will start off by saying this movie is flawed. This five-stars is completely subjective because I was so enthralled by the movie... read more and the performances. But it's obvious that the studio took some of his control away because the movie really isn't done in many ways. Much of the story has to be summarized because they couldn't film it all...
  
  ...but the parts that are filmed are fantastic. I'd love to know what Kurosawa did and what the studio tried to do to this movie. These are really rich performances. Now, I'll admit (for an English major no less!), that I've never read the original Russian epic. I now really want to because this story is just absolutely perfect. Yes, it's got quite a bit of melodrama to it, but I have to say that I really like that. This is a darned powerful movie.
  
  Again, I feel like I have to point out the strong performance by Toshiro Mifune. While Kameda was a strong character, the real emotion comes out of Mifune's character. There is savagery in his eyes. He's a man who loses sense of reality. While Kameda may be the crazy one, the people around him are the ones who seem to be losing their sanity.
  
  One thing that I've never really noticed too much in Kurosawa films is the use of snow. I know that he's adapting a Russian epic for Japan, but the use of the weather is extremely powerful in this movie. The world is cold around them and it seems unnatural for people to want to live in this harsh environment all that time. The white in this monochromatic film is striking and really creates a very cool atmosphere for the film. Sure, I'm starting to sound overly-scholarly, but I just feel like I can't say enough good about this film. I really enjoyed it and wished that Kurosawa got complete control over this movie.

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• Masayuki Mori as Kinji Kameda the idiot
• Toshiro Mifune as Denkichi Akama
• Setsuko Hara as Taeko Nasu
• Yoshiko Kuga as Ayako Uno
• Mitsuyo Akashi as Akama's Mother
• Minoru Chiaki as Mutsuo Kayama
• Chiyoko Fumiya as Noriko
• Bokuzen Hidari as Karube
• Chieko Higashiyama as Satoki Ono the Mother

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