The basic premise is this...A government clerk (played by Takashi Shimura) finds out he has stomach cancer and will soon die. He reflects upon his life and realizes that he has done nothing worth of any substance and that his life has no meaning. I LOVE this film because any other director would have made it heartfelt and syrupy whereas Kurosawa shows it to us in a straightforward, almost cold manner. After Shimura's character dies, Kurosawa uses the second half of the film to examine the character's life from other characters' point of view. This prevents the film from getting too overly emotional and allows the audience to see more facets of the character.
Shimura plays the old man with such soul-baring pain and loneliness that you can't help but feel not only sympathy, but EMPATHY for the guy. All around just an amazing movie that has to be taken on that island.
3 comments:
Yeah, man. Really nice movie.
That scene where he's on the swing practically kills me.
I've always found the structure really weird, though. Split into halves rather than more conventional thirds--I can't think of many other things that works the same way, except maybe vertigo.
Anyhow, good stuff.
Awesome!! love your movie posts!! cant wait for the other ones in the list :)
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