Lower Depths

Year: 1957

Grade: B+

Country: Japan

Director: Kurosawa

Review

the most theatrical of any of the fourteen kurosawa films that i’ve seen. about 90% of the film takes place in a long flop house of sorts that is perfectly constructed. in fact, all the art direction and set design is top notch – the costumes and sets reinforce, nay, establish the major theme of the film – that being poverty. like “grapes of wrath,” the primary character of the film isn’t a person, it’s poverty itself. poverty informs and shapes everything that happens or is addressed; the film revolves on this axis. also, more than any of the kurosawa films this film was about an ensemble effort. mifune is the star in some ways, but the old man is a star as well, and both of them enter late and leave early so really there isn’t a star in the film. kurosawa uses the cramped setting to full effect. it gives the feeling of isolation (from the rest of the world) and confinement (to their impoverished conditions). he is also able to move the camera and use editing enough to keep the film cinematic and interesting, rather than stale or too theatrical. there is little, if any, music in the film which i think also adds to the theatrical feeling of the film. kurosawa does rain like no one in cinema, before or after. he uses lines (vertical, horizontal and diagonal) to dissect the screen. i’ve only seen the film once so i don’t know what each one means, but there is undoubtedly a reason behind the choice. in one scene we see two men in a bunk bed – one on top and one on the bottom – and they are talking about hell on earth. the horizontal split in this scene probably enhances the particular motif of the scene. kurosawa uses a similar method with the wipes in rashomon. speaking of wipes…there aren’t any in this film. there are only four breaks in the film (five acts) and all are fades to black. kurosawa never disappoints, and this film is no exception, but this film was the most different of the non-90s films i’ve seen. it had the most comedy and it was the least filmic.