| Toshirô Mifune | ... | Sutekichi the Thief | |
| Isuzu Yamada | ... | Osugi the Landlady | |
| Kyôko Kagawa | ... | Okayo, Osugi's Sister | |
| Ganjiro Nakamura | ... | Rokubei, Osugi's Husband | |
| Minoru Chiaki | ... | Former Samurai | |
| Kamatari Fujiwara | ... | The Actor | |
| Akemi Negishi | ... | Osen the Prostitute | |
| Nijiko Kiyokawa | ... | Otaki the Candy-Seller | |
| Koji Mitsui | ... | Yoshisaburo the Gambler | |
| Eijirô Tôno | ... | Tomekichi the Tinker | |
| Haruo Tanaka | ... | Tatsu | |
| Eiko Miyoshi | ... | Asa, Tomekichi's Wife | |
| Bokuzen Hidari | ... | Kahei the Pilgrim | |
| Atsushi Watanabe | ... | Kuna | |
| Kichijiro Ueda | ... | Shimazo the Police Agent | |
| Yû Fujiki | ... | Unokichi | |
| Fujitayama | ... | Tsugaru |
Directed by | |||
| Akira Kurosawa | |||
Writing credits(in alphabetical order) | ||
| Maxim Gorky | play "The Lower Depths" | |
| Akira Kurosawa | writer | |
| Hideo Oguni | writer | |
Produced by | |||
| Akira Kurosawa | .... | producer | |
| Sôjirô Motoki | .... | associate producer | |
| Tomoyuki Tanaka | .... | associate producer | |
Original Music by | |||
| Masaru Satô | |||
Cinematography by | |||
| Kazuo Yamasaki | |||
Film Editing by | |||
| Akira Kurosawa | |||
Production Design by | |||
| Yoshirô Muraki | |||
Costume Design by | |||
| Yoshiko Samejima | |||
Makeup Department | |||
| Yoshiko Matsumoto | .... | hair stylist | |
| Junjiro Yamada | .... | hair stylist | |
Production Management | |||
| Hiroshi Nezu | .... | production supervisor | |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director | |||
| Yoshimitsu Banno | .... | assistant director (as Yoshimitsu Sakano) | |
| Toshi Kaneko | .... | assistant director | |
| Yasuyoshi Tajitsu | .... | assistant director | |
Art Department | |||
| Koichi Hamamura | .... | property master | |
| Jun Sakuma | .... | assistant art director | |
Sound Department | |||
| Ichirô Minawa | .... | sound effects editor | |
| Mimachi Norase | .... | chief sound assistant | |
| Fumio Yanoguchi | .... | sound | |
| Shoichi Yoshizawa | .... | sound assistant | |
Camera and Electrical Department | |||
| Masao Fukuda | .... | still photographer | |
| Shigeru Mori | .... | lighting technician | |
| Katsumi Murakami | .... | assistant lighting technician | |
| Takao Saitô | .... | assistant camera | |
Editorial Department | |||
| Chozo Kobata | .... | negative cutter | |
Other crew | |||
| Mitsugu Narita | .... | production assistant | |
| Teruyo Nogami | .... | script supervisor | |
| Yuichi Yoshitake | .... | acting office | |
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| News articles | IMDb Drama section | IMDb Japan section |
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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.