Ikimono no kiroku (1955)

An aging Japanese industrialist becomes so fearful of nuclear war that it begins to take a toll on his life and family.

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Shinobu Hashimoto, Fumio Hayasaka (story)

Stars:

Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Minoru Chiaki

1 nomination.

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 Tôgô	...	Yoshi 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)

Storyline

Kiichi Nakajima, an elderly foundry owner, is so frightened and obsessed with the idea of nuclear extermination that his family decides to have him ruled incompetent. Nakajima's fervent wish is for his family to join him in escaping from Japan to the relative safety of South America. Harada, a civil volunteer in the case, sympathizes with Nakajima's conviction, but the old man's irrational behaviour prevents the court from taking his fears seriously.

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Plot Keywords:

nuclear | foundry | all knowing psychiatrist | financial worries | nuclear hysteria | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

25 January 1967 (USA)

Also Known As:

What the Birds Knew

Filming Locations:

Toho Studios, Tokyo, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was one of two that Toho had produced at this time about the threat of nuclear disaster and damage from radiation poisoning - the other film was "Godzilla."

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Connections

Referenced in Hachi-gatsu no rapusodî (1991)

User Reviews

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.