Scandal

A mixed - and pretty disappointing - bag from Kurosawa. Most of the characters are kind of two-dimensional with the exception of Shimura's conflicted lawyer. Even Mifune's performance isn't noteworthy, and though the initial struggle between him and the tabloid is pretty intense, the court room scenes are weak and unconvincingly scripted. The movie ends on too high of a note.

Very much of it's time, hasn't aged well and now looks somewhat overblown. The principle players do well but it is all a bit predictable. With this cast I would have expected something more. Unfortunately it appears the papparazzi theme is still relevant.

Had moderate expectations for this one. It's a Kurosawa starring Mifune, but I'd barely heard about it. Yes. It is a lesser Kurosawa, but I enjoyed it. I liked the quiet moments; the Auld Lang Syne scene is great. Yet, it wasn't tightly edited, and it lacked that simmering undertone or subtext. But as far as small glimpses of post-war Japan, it did brilliantly.

The collision like 99.9% of cinema post WW2 of new ethos and traditional. In this case it’s about celebrity and relationships vs truth and exploitation of the truth. Funny. Feels offensive to call it slight but less grandiose than other Kurosawa obviously.

A film where Toshirô Mifune and his lady friends is caught in a tabloid romance scandal and want to take the gossip mongerers to court to defend their reputation. And while it's a gentle performance from the two leads, this story lives through veteran actor Takashi Shimura's brilliant portrayal of the disgraced lawyer. That was a multilayered emotional trip through motivation to guilt that made for a great drama. A little slow in parts, but it made its points with excellent touches.

Em honra do centenário da maior estrela do cinema japonês: Toshirō Mifune filme #3. Esse é um Kurosawa que faz mais o meu gosto, exata dose de humor e melodrama, mesmo parecendo mais um filme americano do que japonês, aliás, acho que rola uma influência consciente de Frank Capra aqui. DVDRip no MakingOff.

Weak. The pacing is very slow and there's no knowing who's the main character. Is this a story about Aoye or about Hiruta? Dialogue was repetitive and went on for too long.

This movie felt similar in a lot of ways to the earlier Drunken Angel from '48. Toshirô Mifune is surprisingly mild mannered and handles it well but a is always the case Takashi Shimura steals every scene he's in, he doesn't need to say or real even do anything and he conveys more emotion than most actors could even hope to achieve. A good script with a still timely story with powerful acting from every actor no matter the roles. My only complaint is ... [Full review]

This was hard to finish. A story about a disreputable paper selling lies and gossip who is sued by the artist and singer they victimize. The story has few highlights and even fewer satisfying moments. The lawyer was a buffoon. This may have been a scandalous issue in 1950's Japan, but it is pretty hum-drum by today's standards. It was not very entertaining. The subtitles were terrible. Toshirô Mifune was somewhat charismatic. Shirley Yamaguchi was pretty and has a good singing voice.

First of all it's hard for me to rate this properly as the subtitles on the DVD I watched were extremely poor and I had a hard time following dialogue. I think I got basically the whole plot though, and I felt like it started strong but a lot of the interesting characters end up being pushed to the side in favour of the fairly insipid courtroom/bribery drama. Kurosawa doesn't seem to realise that the ethical questions he raises about privacy are much more interesting than who wins in court.

78.000

71.250

An enjoyable picture, even if the ending can be seen coming a mile off. And a far better use of "Auld Lang Syne" than Capra could ever have pulled off.

One of Kurosawa's most Westernized pictures, and somewhat blander for it. I detect a Frank Capra influence... one can't help but think of It's a Wonderful Life during the "Auld Lang Syne" scene, and the ending has shades of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Shimura and Mifune are both off, with the former giving a little too much and the latter not quite enough. The photographic technique is excellent, of course, and if it's not a major piece of the Kurosawa canon, at least it's watchable.