A minor film by Kurosawa's standard, but still surprisingly gripping. I put off watching this for some time - I felt the theme would be very dated and many reviews of it have been lukewarm. But it is actually a tight, gripping and superbly acted drama. What makes it truly stands out is that Kurosawa never falls into the trap of siding too much with one or other character. The central character, a businessman called Nakajima, is obsessed with the H-bomb and convinced that Japan is doomed tries to persuade his family (including his mistresses and their children) to move to Brazil, where he feels they will be safer. His family, unsurprisingly, think he has gone mad and try to have him declared incompetent so they can seize control of his business. But there are no bad guys or good guys here - everyone is struggling to do the best they can. All this is observed by a sad eyed dentist (Harada), played brilliantly as usual by Takashi Shimura who is left wondering who is mad - a man who seeks to flee nuclear destruction, or those who simply shrug and accept it as inevitable.
As usual with Kurosawa, the editing, photography, and camera movements are outstanding. Not many directors can create visually memorable images from an essentially domestic drama, but Kurosawa is one of them. I found one of the final scenes particularly striking - the two main characters looking at the sun, shaded through blinds - the now completely insane Nakajima convinced its the burning earth. It was impossible not to think that the obsession of the latter half of the 20th Century of nuclear Armageddon has turned into another fear, of a heating planet. So even when dealing with the immediate concerns of his day, Kurosawa still manages to be contemporary for our time.
As usual with Kurosawa, the editing, photography, and camera movements are outstanding. Not many directors can create visually memorable images from an essentially domestic drama, but Kurosawa is one of them. I found one of the final scenes particularly striking - the two main characters looking at the sun, shaded through blinds - the now completely insane Nakajima convinced its the burning earth. It was impossible not to think that the obsession of the latter half of the 20th Century of nuclear Armageddon has turned into another fear, of a heating planet. So even when dealing with the immediate concerns of his day, Kurosawa still manages to be contemporary for our time.