The Lower Depths (1957) User Reviews

The Poetics of Decadence

[anak_d · 7/10 · 10 February 2006]

"Donzoko" does not rank among Akira Kurosawa's finest films, but that doesn't mean it should be dismissed, considering the quality of his body of work.

Not many films have explored the moral decadence of humanity in face of poverty such as "Donzoko". It reminds us of how most humans are, deep down, only worried about themselves and their own worldy pleasures.

The inclusion of the "Old Man" gives the film an almost Buddhist insight into the situation of the slum, which helps painting its extremely intriguing - even if limited - canvas.

7.7/10

Too Polished

[mark-1523 · 8/10 · 25 February 2005]

First, I must provide the obligatory warning that this film is absolutely not a good film for introducing a viewer to the power of Kurosawa. Nevertheless, this film is one of his most well-crafted ensemble films. The performance of Bokuzen Hidari as the wandering pilgrim or priest Kahei is his pinnacle in Kurosawa's films. After his comic-relief roles in the more well known films "Ikiru" and "Seven Samurai", this role is Hidari's chance to show his own version of wisdom and authority. Similarly, Kamatari Fujiwara's powerfully sympathetic performance as the alcoholic actor is another surprising demonstration by an actor who had, hitherto, been cast in unsympathetic- even adversarial roles in previous Kurosawa films. As one comes to expect from Isuzu Yamada, her character is a feisty and commanding presence that drives the plot along.

Toshiro Mifune, however, was not the best choice for his role as the petty thief- try as he might to look like a immature and puerile common criminal , the false swagger fails to hide the actor's inherent dignity. Nevertheless, his energy and effort still make his performance believable- if incongruous. In general, however, his unsuitability for his role is the only significant snag in an otherwise fluid and natural performance on the part of all the actors. Also, the sets, as one would expect for Kurosawa, are meticulously detailed, well-lit, and authentic-seeming.

The story- based on the Maxim Gorky play, however, is not that compelling. In part, I think, it is my reaction to a socialistic morality play brought to the silver screen. Also, however, Kurosawa has tried too hard and has polished the performance and settings for too long. As well and smoothly as the actors interact, as convincing they are in their roles, their performance just does not lead anywhere dramatically. However, I saw the Jean Renoir version- a much less refined effort, in my opinion- and had much the same reaction, concluding that the story, itself, and not Kuroasawa's over-controlling treatment is what hampered my engagement.

In spite of that... That is to say... In spite of the fact that the movie's story is not very compelling for me at all, I still have high regard for the film because the acting performances are so solid and engaging. For that reason, I strongly urge devotees of Kurosawa's films to check this movie out at some point while keeping in mind that it remains less than a sum of its parts.

Unusual Kurosawa, but still a strong movie

[TallGuy · 8/10 · 7 August 2000]

This movie is less easily accessible than other movies by Akira Kurosawa. None of the samurai honor, swordfighting action or visual beauty of his more well known efforts, Still, if you give yourself the time to view and appreciate it, it is a strong, involving movie with better staying power than most of what hits the silver screen in a typical season.

Super ensemble acting

[gkbazalo · 19 July 2004]

Kurosawa meant this to be a fairly straightforward filming of the Gorky play and it is. Like most filmed stage plays, it relies heavily on dialogue and a good translation for people who don't speak Japanese. Fortunately, the new Criterion DVD supplies this. You have to get some appreciation for the characters before this film comes alive, which it did for me about half way through. I watched it again and greatly enjoyed the entire film. Unlike the French version with Jean Gabin, Kurosawa does not single out any one character as the focus, which is not easy with Mifune in the picture. (He is not in the last quarter of the film). At first, we seem to have only a mob of quarrelsome boarders in a flophouse, but the personality of each one gradually emerges--the gambler, the actor, the barrel maker, the thief, the prostitute, the former samurai, the priest. Each one alternately harangues and supports the other boarders, while trying to maintain some shred of dignity to themselves. I would not recommend it as an introduction to Kurosawa (try Ikiru or Red Beard) but give it a try. 4 out of 5.

"Lies trump the truth every time."

[morrison-dylan-fan · 6/10 · 22 June 2022]

Having read a huge amount on Throne of Blood and The Hidden Fortress (1957 & 1958-both also reviewed) before seeing them, I became curious about the work Akira Kurosawa made between them, which does not get the same amount of attention as the other two films, leading to me exploring the lower depths.

View on the film:

Going in-depth on the production in the third edition of his book:The Films of Akira Kurosawa, Donald Eichie reveals that for the second title the film maker made in 1957, the cast and crew spent 40 days in rehearsals, (with the cameras running through empty,and the cast in full costume/make-up) and editor/ co-writer (with regular collaborator of this era, Hideo Oguni) / directing auteur Akira Kurosawa composes his second stage adaptation of the year,by teaming up for the first of two times with cinematographer Kazuo Yamazaki, and building on the long-lens gaze of Throne of Blood.

Filmed largely in sequence over 4 weeks, Kurosawa & Yamazaki descend to the lower depths with a beautiful 360 degree opening shot panning, which lands on a trimming of Kurosawa's distinctive screen-wipes, replaced here with delicate,long take panning shots across the confine location, drawing a intimate mood of witnessing an unfolding play, as the sound of heavy wind whistles in the background, until Kurosawa breaks it in the final scene, with rain (the use of weather being a major recurring motif in his works) lashing down on the drenched in somber slum.

Having 40 days to rehearse before cameras started rolling, the ensemble cast give excellent performances which perfectly compliment each-other, from a wiggling Toshiro Mifune as thief Sutekichi and Kyoko Kagawa screaming into the void as Okayo, to the harrowing turn by Kamatari Fujiwara as Danjuro, grasping in the dark for lines, he can no longer remember.

Differing from Kurosawa's earlier Shakespeare adaptation by containing large passages of Maxim Gorky's original text, the writers weave Gorky's play, with an exploration of those on the very outskirts of society holding dreams, (dreams being a major recurring theme in Kurosawa's works) which smash into a million pieces, on the harsh, fatalistic post-war landscape of Japan, as all the residence of the slum, sink into the lower depths.

Worth every bit of patience

[birthdaynoodle · 9/10 · 22 August 2006]

The Criterion Collection offers two different film versions of "The Lower Depths": one made in 1936 by Jean Renoir and another one made in 1957 by Kurosawa. The two directors never worked together on either film. In fact, they only met once in their lives, many years later. Both films are based on Russian writer Maxim Gorky's 1902 play, which describes life in a miserable slum where most characters have lost all sense of hope. Renoir deals with this serious subject matter in a much more humorous and amusing way than Kurosawa, whose film is slower, decidedly somber and a lot more difficult to digest. While Renoir's work takes the viewer in and out of the slums, Kurosawa doesn't allow one to see beyond the wretchedness of the underworld. Both films are great, but it was probably Kurosawa's which left a more durable and deeper impression on me.

More unsatisfying than fulfilling.

[bobsgrock · 7/10 · 16 December 2008]

Based on the Maxim Gorky play of the same name, Akira Kurosawa's version of this story of a group of depressed people living in a desolate building amidst the poor sections of Japan. I'm not sure if Gorky intended this story to be so miserable and depressing, but Kurosawa definitely succeeded in bringing that feeling to life all throughout the story. Kurosawa never lets the camera leave the setting of the old, beaten-down house where all these characters reside, which only adds to the desolation and futility of the characters.

Probably the biggest problem here is the balance to which Kurosawa decided to unfold this story. As much as he was being faithful, the only part of the plot that was interesting at all was the love triangle between the thief Suteikichi, and the sisters Okayo and Osugi, the landlady. The tension between the three is phenomenal, and Toshiro Mifune gives a startling performance as the sensitive thief desperate to change his ways for the love of one woman but stuck with the history of another.

However, all other aspects of the story pale in comparison to this subplot. There are some comical touches throughout and the actors are all quite good, but in the end I felt underwhelmed at how it all played out and disappointed with how the triangle was handled. So, if you are a fan of Kurosawa's other work, this is worth checking out, but maybe only once.

Very underrated Kurosawa masterpiece

[davidals · 10/10 · 18 December 2003]

LOWER DEPTHS perhaps isn't the place to start if you're completely unfamiliar with Kurosawa - but it still ranks as one of his great films, and definitely one of his most underrated.

Based on a Maxim Gorky play (an earlier Jean Renoir film draws upon the same source material), LOWER DEPTHS seems a bit stagey at first, but Kurosawa manages to enliven it considerably - the performances are all top-notch, and the combination of skillful editing (straight cuts only here, but the usual Kurosawa multi-camera shooting method) and inventive set design (with diagonals and angles trapping characters, heighetning the intensity of the dialogue and acting) making this an unforgettable film to watch - easily as accomplished as the better known THRONE OF BLOOD from a little earlier. One will definitely note how tightly constructed - in all ways - this film is.

This film does (along with IKIRU, RED BEARD and HIGH & LOW) illuminate some of Kurosawa's underlying philosophies, specifically a sense of social realism in cinema that can cast a critical gaze upon injustice, and in this film a sense of anger and frustration is articulated with an unusual degree of eloquence, testament to both Kurosawa's technical virtuosity, and his greater awareness of the world.

But for all of the cruelty on display here, there's an equal amount of humor, typically irreverent and loaded with sly social commentary, but also spontaneous: the two impromptu musical episodes, which blend Japanese theatrical conventions with a Chaplin-like sense of visual choreography to very striking effect.

Not as well known as SEVEN SAMURAI, THRONE OF BLOOD or YOJIMBO, but just as accomplished - filled with delight and insight.

LEFT INDIFFERENT

[quinolas · 6/10 · 3 May 2002]

Even though based on Maxim Gorky's play but set in Japan at the end of the Tokugawa period (it's in fact the first Kurosawa jidai-geki not dealing with samurai), Kurosawa's version of The Lower Depths left me quite indifferent. This might be due to, even though with a fantastic use of compositions in a limited visual space, its still very much theatrical nature. Maybe the whole film was in fact a dark comedy on the human nature which I could not understand. I could still appreciate its extremely dark but comical ending: As the whole group is singing and enjoying themselves news that the actor has hung himself arrive. The gambler quite annoyed replies: `The idiot... just as the fun was beginning' and the film ends. Or the irony of Mifune's yakuza character love for Kagawa Kyoko and her final betrayal sending him to prison. The musical soundtrack is astounding and very imaginative. It is entirely made of the human voices of the characters and one small drum. It is also quite enjoyable seeing the characters performing these sort of musical numbers. As said before Kurosawa shows again how great a technician he was using the constrictions of the studio to create amazing compositions to forward the story. The beginning of the film starts with a medium shot of the gambler and the actor with the sound of a pot being banged by somebody else. A 180 degree cut shows the tinker working on his pots and for every other cut another character, who until then were sort of lurking outside the frame, is thus introduced into the action.

The Human Heart in the Depths

[yippeiokiyay · 10/10 · 3 April 2006]

It's one of Kurosawa's most neglected masterpieces. "The Lower Depths" takes us into a ravine tenement, run by greedy, brutal landlords, and inhabited by the lowest of society's strata. All action takes place in two locations: the interior of the tenement, or the tenement grounds.

How amazing, then, is the fascination this film exerts on us, with its very modest settings. I am astonished at the creativity of the film shooting these restricted spaces, in so many varied and telling ways: space expands and contracts as is necessary to the story: the outside is either threatening or an escape, but even once outside, we see that there is no escape, and diagonals show us the human dimensions of restricted choice. Space speaks volumes in the film, accompanied by the beauty of the ensemble acting, expressing profound truths.

We find ourselves engaged in the lives of these people, and puzzled over the character of Bokuzen Hidari as the pilgrim. Is he good? If he is good, and pacifies the dispossessed by acknowledging their illusions, does it mean that self-deception is good? What wonderful ensemble acting! The director put them through long, tough rehearsals, and the result is a seamless film. No wrong notes, no overacting, just a beautiful and strange film that haunts us after we've experienced it. Such invisible, great acting, and humor and pathos.

The character of the actor is the finest piece of work by the Kurosawa veteran Kamatari Fujiwara. It is amazing that this actor appears in such diverse roles as Matahichi in "The Hidden Fortress" and as a corrupt executive in "The Bad Sleep Well". What astonishing range and depth! How brilliantly Kurosawa uses the actor's range! And, of course, we have our beloved Toshiro Mifune, laughing, kicking up his heels in devilish delight, trying to impress the girl, pouting with the landlady, listening with suspicion, then respect to the pilgrim...doing so many things so well, we are bereft when he is absent for the film's conclusion.

And what a conclusion! The harsh clappers that end the movie, the frontal shot of the gambler as he addresses us (for the only time in the film) directly, and the sudden end! Gorky...Kurosawa, Bokuzen Hidari, Toshiro Mifune, Kamatari Fujiwara and the rest....they live on in this masterpiece, for which I am very grateful.

If you've never seen a Kurosawa film...don't start with this one

[JohnSeal · 7/10 · 30 October 1999]

Definitely lesser Kurosawa, this stagey adaptation of a Maxim Gorki play is pretty slow going, even by Kurosawa's standards. There's nothing wrong with the film: it's well acted and shot, but the story simply lacks interest. Not a good place to begin investigating one of the great filmmakers.

The positive functions of "useful lies"

[KFL · 9/10 · 12 January 2006]

Having watched Kurosawa's retelling of Dostoyevsky's "The Idiot" a couple weeks ago, and come away feeling that one viewing was already a bit too much, I was not expecting much from this. After all, Gorky is generally regarded as a notch or three below Dostoyevsky.

But whereas "The Idiot" did not begin to mesh with a Japanese idiom, "The Lower Depths" fits in very well indeed. Much of the film involves the hopes, dreams, schemes and machinations of a handful of characters, all fixated on escaping the tenement and its soul-numbing poverty.

An enigmatic old man who appears one day and spends some time in the hovel has a salutary effect on several of the residents, merely by dint of a level of kindness and sympathy that any of us would take for granted. When he leaves, the spark of compassion he has kindled dies quickly. Yet before he arrives and after he has left, there nonetheless remains a minimal spirit of camaraderie. I have not read Gorky's novel, but the "depths" here may (be taken to) refer to this bare-minimum level of feeling for one's fellow paupers.

Running through the script is the theme of lies and (self-)deception, and how they can ease the bitter reality that society's outcasts must face every day. This above all works well here, for the Japanese themselves have a utilitarian (so to speak) view of truth and falsehoods. The hoary Japanese adage "uso mo houben", often rendered "a white lie can be expedient", could have been a tagline for this movie; for the alcoholic ex-actor and several others have little other than self-delusion to help them get through another day.

Kurosawa manages to inject a measure of droll comedy while keeping the grim facts unprettified, showing us how the luckless souls at the very bottom of society grasp at the slimmest of hopes and somehow manage (...or don't manage) to keep on going. Superb.

Poverty

[davidmvining · 7/10 · 2 April 2022]

Adapted from the play of the same name by Russian author Maxim Gorky, The Lower Depths is an effort on Kurosawa's part to be experimental to a small degree. Trying to replicate the theatrical experience in film form, it's a far more engaging and cinematic effort to film a play than the one movie I keep in mind for filmed plays, Alfred Hitchcock's Juno and the Paycock, made under far different circumstances. Given sixty filming days, Kurosawa brought some of the best Japanese actors of the time together on a handful of sets to help give the play real visual life and strong characterization from his actors.

Set in a single slum of a tenement building where about a dozen people are living in a single, large room with their landlord across the alley in a nicer house, the film is a slice of life look at these people living in abject poverty. Never given a specific timeframe, we watch the ins and outs of these lives over the course of a few days where dramatic events unfold. There is a thief, Sutekichi (Toshiro Mifune), who uses a police deputy as a fence, who is having an affair with Osugi (Isuzu Yamada), the landlord's wife but is also cozying up to Osugi's younger, prettier sister Okayo (Kyoko Kagawa). The landlord, Rokubei (Nakamura Ganjiro), has no idea of the affair. A cooper, Tomekichi (Eijiro Tono), is indifferent to his wife slowly dying on the mat behind where he works. There's an ex-samurai, Tonosama (Minoru Chiaki), who reminisces about the days when he had seen lords. There's a prostitute, Osen (Akemi Negishi), who is being driven to drink by the hopelessness of her situation. Into all of this wanders a kindly old man, Kahei (Bokuzen Hidari).

In a cast of characters this large, I think Kahei ends up the closest we get to a central character. He ends up part of every other story as he offers help and advice to those around him. He's a generally kind soul, reminding me of Kameda in The Idiot but not quite as obviously purely good. Does he lie to the old woman dying about the nature of life after death? A small argument breaks out afterwards amongst some of the tenants about it (recalling Rashomon and Ikiru). Does he lie when he tells an old, drunken actor, Danjuro (Kamatari Fujiwara), of a free clinic on the top of a mountain that will cure him of his diseased "bitol" organs? He's offering these people hope in their mire of hopelessness. Is it an act of kindness or cruelty?

The big dramatic focus is on the affair between Sutekichi and Okayo. Okayo, despite her relationship with Sutekichi, doesn't seem to actually like him very much. He's a small-time thief who's dishonestly having illicit relationships with two women at the same time. When he promises to change his ways, to leave the slum with her, find a real job, and leave crime behind in order to marry her, she's suddenly taken with him, but the scene is observed by both Osugi and Rokubei who don't take well to the idea of, on the one hand, Sutekichi leaving Osugi, and on the other, taking a hardworking and effective slave from their service. When the pair take Okayo into their house and beat her for her disloyalty, the tenement is up in arms, breaks in, and Sutekichi accidentally hits Rokubei in a way that kills him. Recriminations come, and the tenement breaks apart, beginning with Kahei mysteriously vanishing. Is he an angel or just a dishonest old man who got out before things could turn against him?

The movie ends on a note that I kind of love. The rest of the movie up to this point is a handsome, interesting story of life in the lower rungs of society, with a wide cast of people trying to get out, rest on their dreams, or simply give up depending on who they are. After the dramatic ending of the main action, with the landlord dead, the two women attached to him having fled, and Sutekichi under arrest, life just goes on. A drunken party erupts until there's one more bit of tragedy that breaks it up, the film ending with a character looking into the camera and declaiming that it ruined their great party. I love it because firstly, the party itself seems fun and raucous. Secondly, the undercutting of the party with the tragic news is surprisingly effective at drawing the audience back from it. In addition, after so much death and destruction, why couldn't they just find a fun way to find release? Why did it need to end?

Feeling very much like it comes from a Russian source, with depressing subject matter, long, character focused scenes, and a dirty setting, The Lower Depths seems to come from Kurosawa's deep appreciation of Western and Russian literature. Intelligently transposing the action from late 19th century Russia to (supposedly) contemporary Japanese surroundings, it ends up feeling very much of Japan.

What's interesting to me most is that, despite about three-quarters of the film taking place on a single set (the other quarter is mostly just outside), it never gets dull visually. Kurosawa, from his first film onward, has proven himself adept at finding aesthetically pleasing compositions, placing his actors on within frame with their surroundings in pleasing ways. That becomes harder to do when you have almost no set changes. Thinking of the relative lack of visual interest when Terry Gilliam tried something similar on The Zero Theorem to lesser effect, Kurosawa is able to effectively use beams, depth in the frame, and placement of his actors to keep the movie from feeling visually repetitive.

Acting is great all around, a result of Kurosawa taking sixty filming days and using multiple cameras at once. It's an ensemble piece, though, so it's hard for any one actor to really stand out other than Mifune. As Orson Welles said of him, "his movie performances would register in the back row of the Kabuki." (I think this was praise.) The rest of the cast is very good, of course. This is really an actor's showcase first and foremost, and there's never a false moment from any of them. I especially liked Hidari as Kahei, particularly because I mostly just know him as the most pathetic of the peasants from Seven Samurai.

The film as a whole is handsome and interesting, though I never quite found it involving emotionally. It's an experiment, similar to Hitchcock's other film Lifeboat, in trying to recreate the theatrical experience in a cinema, and I think it's a reasonable success at that.

A Lesser Kurosawa's Film

[claudio_carvalho · 4/10 · 11 May 2010]

A group of worthless people lives in a slum, including a sick terminal woman with her drunkard husband; a gambler; a pilgrim; a former samurai and an actor. The prostitute Okayo (Kyôko Kagawa) disputes the love of the thief Sutekichi (Toshirô Mifune) with her landlady and sister Osugi (Isuzu Yamada) that is married with Rokubei (Ganjiro Nakamura), leading to a tragedy.

I have watched most of Akira Kurosawa's films and the unpleasant "Donzoko" is the only one that I really did not like. It is quite impossible to write a plot summary of the annoying, pointless and dull story. The theatrical screenplay is tiresome and too long despite the good acting and the histrionic Kyôko Kagawa and in the end this is a lesser work of this outstanding director. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Ralé" ("The Rabble")

Talky but fascinating

[jordondave-28085 · 7/10 · 14 September 2023]

(1957) The Lower Depths (In Japanese with English subtitles)

Kurosawa adapting the Maxim Gorky play which depicts how poverty infects some people who're living below poverty row. Mostly filmed around a specific area, one inside a hut and outside. Film relies entirely on the characters performances than on action showcasing unscrupulous dealings and some ideologies. Frequent co-star with director Akira Kurosawa Toshiro Mifune also stars as the desirable thief! Well acted and never boring even though it's very talky, but sometimes irrelevant. This is the tenth of sixteen films actor Toshiro Mifune collaborated with director Akira Kurosawa.

Ugliness and kindness of everyone as a comedy

[shi612 · 9/10 · 19 July 2007]

I enjoyed it. Everyone in the movie has very distinct character. I really enjoyed the superb performances of skilled actors who acted without going out from the dirty room and surrounding area.

After watching the movie, I read its original stage drama, "The Lower Depth" by Gorky. Most of the characters and the scripts are the same as the original drama. On Gorky's book, I could not help reading it with exact accent and gesture in the movie. Particularly, I can't imagine better way of speaking the pilgrimage Luke's scripts than Kahei acted by Hidari Bokuzen. I am sure the scripts of the movie are based on Nakamura Hakuyo's Japanese translation published from Iwanami. Even the Russian stage drama is adapted to completely different locale, you don't feel any awkwardness. This means perhaps, both the original drama and its adaptation are really great.

What only a movie could do is that you can enjoy subtle expression of countenance at close up. There are unforgettable performances by face, such as the moment of instant tension when the land owner, acted by Nakamura Ganjiro, and Sutekichi the thief, acted by Mifune Toshiro, stand together; or the moment the actor, acted by Fujiwara Kamatari, goes out of the house after gulping sake.

The scene of dancing with mouth instrumentation ('kuchi-syamisen in Japanese) is a great fun. Particularly I enjoyed the fat man Tsugaru dancing with sling; I found the actor is a professional sumo wrestler.

The most unforgettable personality is the old man Kahei. Can I become such a nice old man who can solace and encourage everyone around me? This movie can work out without Sutekichi the thief, but the old man. Therefore, the old man Kahei could be the lead character.

By the way, as a movie that describes the lower depth life with humor and music, I remember "Woman of Breakwater", by Philippine director Mario O'Hara. People in "Woman of Breakwater" came to live outside of the breakwater of Manila Bay. Everyone wants to flee from there, but can not. Just behind the breakwater is a park, and modern buildings. Describing the life of the poor out of the sight of the rich, it portrays mutual love among the people. "Donzoko" does not have such social viewpoint. Instead, it tries to show ugliness and kindness of everyone as a comedy.

2.23.2024

[EasonVonn · 6/10 · 23 February 2024]

Akira Kurosawa's running insight into the underbelly of life, a rather lengthy 2 hours can almost be said to have left a deep impression on all viewers of the poor life in an indelible way, which is the charm of the running story, most of the plot exists only for the sake of enriching the content of its life, and the actual drama is only unfolded in the second half of the movie. The interior scenery is so poor as to be completely incompatible with the main subject of the show, and the musical score of the performance is really hard to arouse interest, and even a bit noisy. Of course, the intention is very good, and I really can't forget the taste of that painful life, but the premise of this climactic drama is even lower than all of Kurosawa's works, and then have such a narrative form is very puzzling. Jean Nadirman has a more extreme approach, but at least the drama at the end turns the whole three hours upside down.

Not a film to miss

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 22 July 2012]

Without it being one of Akira Kurosawa's finest, The Lower Depths is an exceptional film. As with any Kurosawa film it is wonderfully made, with well-crafted sets and fine use of camera work. Kurosawa directs superbly, always with a delicate touch while giving detail and humanity to his stories and characters. And those they do here. The story has a lot of intensity and unsentimental in its telling of lives without hope, and the characters are powerfully written with a lot of humanity. The ensemble playing is really magnificent with the standouts being Toshiro Mifune, charismatic as ever, and Kamatari Fujiwara, who conveys an astonishing range of emotions here. My only real criticism of The Lower Depths is the rather abrupt ending, other than that it is a really well-done film with a lot of things to like about Kurosawa's films present. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Not as good

[Delrvich · 6/10 · 30 January 2021]

As The Lower Depths (1936). Something got lost in the translation.

mystified

[loverealfilm · 10/10 · 21 May 2001]

I cannot comprehend the low rating here, or the comments from the bozo which seem stuck on the main entry page here.

This film has all the pieces from your typically masterly Kurosawa.

Incredibly interesting and well done. Try to move beyond Shichinin no Samurai, and Yojimbo, and delve into his more poignant works such as Donzoko.

TRACE

not a great film from Kurosawa, but it is entertaining, and compassionate

[Quinoa1984 · 8/10 · 3 August 2005]

The one problem with The Lower Depths, at least on a first impression basis (and I can't say for sure if its with Maxim Gorky's original text, as I haven't read that or see Jean Renoir's 1936 film of it) is that not a whole lot goes on with the story. Matter of fact, Akira Kurosawa's films, which always have a strong story that sometimes becomes very complex, isn't as such with this. It's sort of a play about the day-to-day inner-working (often nothingness) of the lives of beggars, thieves, downtrodden, and ill in a slum.

This doesn't mean that Kurosawa doesn't have room for his usual extraordinary camera angles, or the intensity of a couple of fights in the film, or that he can't bring out the entertainment value in his actors (it's not an entirely dour film, bits of human comedy are laced in). It's just that it seems to not hold the attention and total awe of a viewer in the way that his greater works do. Mifune is as reliable a leading man as can be, and I liked how Kurosawa set-up the supporting character before he got to his character, Shizuki. But once the characters are set-up, it's a roll-on for little anecdotes of their relationships, thoughts, compassion, laughs, craziness, sadness, contemplation, and so forth.

All this makes for some interesting parts, and it's never a film to turn off mid-way - there are a few memorable scenes and dialog bits, like a little card game where the players have a little chant)there are always moments in a Kurosawa film that mark as superb cinema). Indeed, if one didn't know it was a film by Kurosawa it might be even more impressive on some level. Maybe, and this isn't to put down the significance of the play, it's a little too 'talky' for Kurosawa's own good. Worth the watch if you're already steeped in Kurosawa land, and if you like the play already it's surely worth it for the comparison factor.

Tedious filmed play

[cherold · 4/10 · 19 February 2019]

Akira Kurosawa had already directed some of his best films, including Rashomon, Ikiru, and Seven Samurai, by the time he made The Lower Depths. Which makes its existence very peculiar.

The movie looks pretty much like a low-budget filmed play made for television. Most of it takes place in a single room and it is filmed in a perfunctory manner. The movie largely consists of people talking and arguing. There is little story, and while the acting is quite good, the characters are largely uninteresting.

I made it about two thirds of the way through this and then thought, why am I wasting my time? I don't care what's going to happen! This is all so very boring.

I don't know what happened here. What was Kurosawa's intent? Was he just unable to get the money together to make a real movie? If he was intrigued by the possibilities of a small, contained film, why did he do so little with the format? Was he just practicing theater directing in case the film thing didn't pan out?

A lot of people are praising this film, but I feel that if Kurosawa's name weren't attached to it that it would have been forgotten long ago. I haven't seen all his films, so I can't say whether this is his worst, but it's certainly near the bottom.

Perfect movie on Unity during Downturns and Impoverishment

[maximkong · 9/10 · 18 November 2012]

Watching this during the aftermath of the 2011 japan earthquake actually boosted my love and appreciation of the purpose and the way this film is made. The central point of this film is about poverty and how people, who ended up living in the slums due to predicaments or misfortunes from various pastimes, resume their daily lives.

It is synonymous to the real-life strong-willed Japanese who at the same time rebounded back quickly, and with dignity, from such a tragedy. The film appeared boring at first, but that is the intention. (Boring) Comedy was the main focus in the film most of the time, especially memorable moments like the old wanderer's unbiased comments, a few quirky characters and somewhat unconventional tunes hummed by some of the poor 'residents' which sounded so much like modern rap music -- the later parts of the film gradually dwell more towards the emotional side when viewers will understand that these people, jobless, not given any sort of purpose in life and thus were forced to live such a mundane lifestyle, need to commit to such silly/nonsensical acts and maintain an 'impoverished, simple mindset' in order to keep themselves sane and alive without thinking too much of the sad reality that engulfed them.

Few hours ago (I wrote this review much earlier), I was significantly touched by the way the Japanese disaster victims, who in the same way, led on their normal routines as if nothing has ever happened; or for those direct victims who were being treated in hospitals or already lost many things precious to mother nature (and the nuclear crisis), they did not utter a single word about the tragedy but instead tried to care for others in the same boat. There were no clear dominant presence by the main leads as everyone commanded the same amount of attention, as if everyone were just supporting casts -- after all this film is about the whole 'slum' community. All aspects of impoverishment were well touched; how every single character ended up there and the subsequent effects that caused some to succumb as fallen victims of the system, or to walk away when prudence conquers everything else. The final song and the sarcastic ending was truly a perfect and memorable one that summarizes the whole theme in the best way possible.

Claustrophobic!

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 20 October 2009]

I didn't know Kurosawa had even done a version of "The Lower Depths." I was very pleased with it. It took time to get the hang of all the characters. They came and went and I finally set my anchor on the landlord and his wife to help me to sort them all out. This film grows on you as you make your way from one conflict, one despairing soul to another. There are wonderful choreographed events and scenes, despite people being stuck in that one little room, in building where people hear garbage hit the roof. There is one scene in every one of Kurosawa's movies that I will always remember. I won't spoil it, but it comes at the very end. While these guys are down and out, they have so much personality and so much life; unfortunately, they have had their dreams crushed.

Yes Mifune is very good and dominates the screen, but I was equally impressed with the actor who played "Gramps." He is the wise one, the one who tries to keep it all together and make the place less of a hell on earth. He speaks with modesty and restraint and, because he has had a past, tries to prevent, especially Mifune from messing up his life.

One thing I need to get used to from watching so many of Kurosawa's movies is the wailing and screeching of the women. Is this a Japanese trait because hysterics play such a role in so many films.

The Depths of Despair...

[poe-48833 · 10/10 · 2 June 2016]

THE LOWER DEPTHS is yet another of Kurosawa's insightful explorations of The Human Condition- in this case, the day-to-day struggle against Abject Poverty. "A thief is a poor man's best friend," one of the Denizens of The Depths points out; an unfortunate Truth, as the lack of Money often leaves the Poor with few real options. I see it on a daily basis in the neighborhood where I live. Kurosawa is one of the few Truly GREAT directors to tackle such stories. (I've always thought of DODESKADEN ("CLICKETY-CLACK") as yet another of Kurosawa's more insightful Dramas, one that dealt with- among other things- Mental Retardation. I could go on, but you get my gist.) THE LOWER DEPTHS manages to capture the Utter Boredom and lack of Purpose that motivates many poor people; it is to be applauded.