Wednesday, 22 August 2018

I LIVE IN FEAR

One of Kurosawa's least known films; you can see from the credits why he's considered the most 'western' of Asian directors and the opening scene, set in a family court, could come from an American film noir. It was an extremely topical subject. Made only ten years after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki it deals with one man's conviction that atomic or nuclear war could happen at any time and the affect this has, not just on him and his family, but on the court advisor called in to help determine the man's sanity. America was making similar films at the time but coating them in the guise of science fiction or anti-communist propaganda. Kurosawa's film was based on genuine fear and real experience and is all the more disquieting for it. 

Kurosawa regulars Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura are outstanding as, respectively, the man convinced he has to get his family as far away from Japan as possible and the court official who finds the man's fear contagious while the entire supporting cast are superb. Perhaps it's the uncomfortable nature of the film's topic that has lead it to being shunted aside in any consideration of the director's work. Certainly, of all his contemporary films it is perhaps the most powerful and I think it's a film begging for reassessment.

No comments:

Post a Comment

JUROR #2

 If "Juror #2" turns out to be the last film Clint Eastwood makes, (quite possible since the man is 94 now), at least he will have...