Ikimono no kiroku (1955)

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Shinobu Hashimoto (writer)
Fumio Hayasaka (story)

Release Date:

25 January 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Kiichi Nakajima, an elderly foundry owner, is so frightened and obsessed with the idea of nuclear extermination...

Plot Keywords:

Nuclear | Tokyo Japan | Paranoia | Dentist | Mailman

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Toshirô Mifune	...	Kiichi Nakajima
Takashi Shimura	...	Domestic Court Counselor Dr. Harada
Minoru Chiaki	...	Jiro Nakajima
Eiko Miyoshi	...	Toyo Nakajima
Kyôko Aoyama	...	Sue Nakajima
Haruko Togo	...	Yoki Nakajima
Noriko Sengoku	...	Kimie Nakajima
Akemi Negishi	...	Asako Kuribayashi
Hiroshi Tachikawa	...	Ryoichi Sayama
Kichijirô Ueda	...	Mr. Kuribayashi father
Eijirô Tôno	...	Old man from Brazil
Yutaka Sada	...	Ichiro Nakajima
Kamatari Fujiwara	...	Okamoto
Ken Mitsuda	...	Judge Araki
Masao Shimizu	...	Yamazaki, Yoshi's husband (as Gen Shimizu)

Also Known As:

I Live in Fear (USA)
I Live in Fear: Record of a Living Being (International: English title)
Record of a Living Being (Japan) (informal literal title)
What the Birds Knew

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | UK:PG (video rating) (1998) | UK:A (original rating) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Toho Studios, Tokyo, Japan

Company:

Toho Company

Trivia:

The music score was completed by Masaru Satô when composer Fumio Hayasaka died during production.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hachi-gatsu no kyôshikyoku (1991)

Good film

I felt I had to post because this film, not one of my favorites by Kurosawa but still a one of quality and intelligence, keeps getting bashed by reviewers. The low score (compared to other Kurosawa films) shouldn't discourage potential viewers. Granted, this film takes more patience than some of his other films. However, the subject matter of the atomic bomb and how Japanese society and individuals deal I thought was very seminal. The whole concept of fear is deeply imbued into the film and it questions the sanity of the viewer and the world who live under the constant threat of universal destruction with ignorant self-assurance. The ideas are intelligent and presented with clarity. This film is complete and good in itself and doesn't need to rely on the name of Kurosawa to justify itself. Not a good Kurosawa film to start off with if one is trying to nurse an interest in his fecund movies but a good movie to watch nonetheless particularly if one is at all curious about how Japanese people feel about the horror of the atomic bomb.