IMDb > Ikimono no kiroku (1955)

Ikimono no kiroku (1955) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
7.3/10   987 votes
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Director:
Writers:
Contact:
View company contact information for I Live in Fear on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
25 January 1967 (USA) more
Genre:
Plot:
Kiichi Nakajima, an elderly foundry owner, is so frightened and obsessed with the idea of nuclear extermination... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
1 nomination more
User Comments:
Gripping drama based on fear in post-Hiroshima Japan more (16 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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
Kichijiro 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)
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Additional Details

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
more
Runtime:
103 min
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Australia:PG | UK:PG (video rating) (1998) | UK:A (original rating) | West Germany:12
Filming Locations:
Company:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The music score was completed by Masaru Satô when composer Fumio Hayasaka died during production. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Hachi-gatsu no kyôshikyoku (1991) more

FAQ

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful.
Gripping drama based on fear in post-Hiroshima Japan, 10 April 1999
Author: tony marshall (tony.marshall@btinternet.com) from London, England

Toshiro Mifune's brilliant performance as an embittered factory owner at war with his family owes much to traditional Japanese theatre. The family want him committed to a lunatic asylum in what at first appears a dispute over succession and family wealth. But it emerges that the old man's crankiness and ill-temper is not simply based on a dislike of his mostly lazy and grasping offspring. He is driven by a fear of nuclear bombs (remember this was made less than 10 years after Hiroshima) and his plan to dispose of the business (a foundry, symbol of post-war reconstruction) and move to a farm in Brazil seems more like the action of someone who wants to spare the family, including his illegitimate children, and escape the horror. He is prepared to go to any length, even sacrificing himself and the business in the process. It is a film about a family blown apart by insecurity and fear, made into a gripping tale by a top director and an accomplished cast, as well as giving another twist to one of Kurosawa's constant themes - how the impact of outside forces on traditional values pushes Japan closer to chaos and madness.

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