Karami-ai

A well-done "trust nobody when money is involved" film. You need to watch carefully as there are a number of snakes hiding in the grass when a wealthy businessman is alerted to the fact that he has terminal cancer and decides to make his will and disburse his fortune....but to who?

A woman gradually gets used to things. Jazzy, downbeat and relentless, this is a well-written ("the law is adorable and entertaining") and well-directed tale of scheming and greed.

Karami-ai estreava há 60 anos no Japão. A gente pode até dizer que esse é um Kobayashi menor executado entre as mais absolutas obras-primas Guerra e Humanidade e Harakiri, mas um Kobayashi menor ainda é uma obra-prima. Noir japonês não dá para ficar melhor do que isso. WEBRip SbR.

The convoluted web of dealings snuffs out what might have been a much more scathing anti-capitalist piece. But the widescreen noir-inspired shots and Toru Takemitsu's jazzy soundtrack are a satisfying experience in their own right.

A dense procession of only sometimes unexpected plot turns, drenched in dialogue, which I sort of gathered it would be when reading the synopsis. It's very well-directed, shot and acted, but the extent to which it will excite one depends on one's level of interest in convoluted court intrigue, as there's little else going for it storywise. Personally, as a Kobayashi fan, I'd rather a script like this went to Akira Kurosawa.

It is a densely plotted film, thick with exposition, scheming, double crossing, blackmail and murder. It's all a little convoluted and tough to follow, but in broad strokes this is one of its director's bleakest works. Usually Kobayashi anchors his anti-establishment rhetoric with sympathetic characters and moral perspectives, but here there are none. There is no love to be lost, only profit to be gained.