• A step back after Stray Dog, Kurosawa’s previous film. And of course this is the film directly before Rashomon.
  • Montage heavy first 15 minutes- low ASL (average shot length)
  • A very nice tracking shot at 65 minutes with Shimura looking in at his daughter and Mifune and Shirley Yamaguchi character framed by the windows
A very nice tracking shot at 65 minutes with Shimura looking in at his daughter and Mifune and Shirley Yamaguchi character framed by the windows
  • There are some really strong shots with Kurosawa obstructing and designing the frame at the New Year’s Eve party
There are some really strong shots with Kurosawa obstructing and designing the frame at the New Year’s Eve party
  • At 89 minutes Mifune is kneeling parallel to the screen with the two women perfected blocked and framed on the sides of him- a superb depth of field Welles/Wyler shot
a handful of shots showing of Kurosawa’s masterly of the different depth of field through character blocking and object obstruction and framing
  • Almost immediately following that is a shot with Mifune’s motorcycle in the foreground and the two women in the deep background framed well
  • The story is messy- not sure what it wants to be but it doesn’t succeed as a drama with a sick child, doesn’t succeed as a love story, or as a courtroom drama.
  • Recommend but fringy- not in the top 25 or so of 1950