Described as 'the most overlooked Kurosawa film', this statement should be taken at face value, not with the romantic idea it is unfairly overlooked. There is much that is brilliant here, but overall it is lesser and not greater than the sum of its parts. There are many brilliant scenes, where the film's many warring personalities are skilfully juxtaposed in individual frames; any aspiring film director would do well do study this. The ice skating scene from the ice festival where skaters wear ghoul masks is something Fellini appears to have lifted for the carnival scene in I Vitelloni. Also in one of her best ever roles (better than Tokyo Story), Satusko Hara is fantastic as the scorned ex-concubine who is in turns melancholy at her situation and vengeful. The Wicked Witch of the East from the Wizard of Oz was surely an inspiration here. Most at fault is the role of Masayuki Mori as the idiot Kameda, his long silences, lack of gesticulation and slowly spoken lines only serve to kill the viewer's attention. We never get to feel much sympathy with his infirmity; perhaps his best bits were cut by the studio from the four hour version that Kurosawa created? There is no resolution or epiphany as in the end to Ikiru. Plus Toshiro Mifune's character is basically little different to the unruly warrior from The Seven Samurai, where it really belongs. This is worth watching for some of its parts, but this is not and has never been a successful film. My personal favourites from Kurosawa are Stray Dog, Seven Samurai and Ikiru.
