The Lower Depths

Renoir had filmed an adaptation of Gorky’s proletarian play in 1936; Kurosawa’s version, made between Throne of Blood and Hidden Fortress, is set in mid-19th-century Edo, and features an ensemble cast made up of Kurosawa regulars and Japanese stage and screen luminaries. The drama is set amongst the denizens — crooks, prostitutes, gamblers, and other derelicts — of a slum flophouse. Presiding over these unfortunates is wicked landlady Osugi (Isuzu Yamada), who is having an affair with thief Sutekichi (Toshiro Mifune). Sutekichi, for his part, is really in love with Osugi’s younger sister Okaya (Kyoko Kagawa). Things take a murderous turn when Rokubei (Ganjiro Nakamura), the landlady’s husband, learns of his wife’s affair. Kurosawa’s adaptation impresses with its rigorous use of constrained space and inventive sets and staging; the bleak milieu and dark social commentary are leavened by surprising black humour. Kurosawa claimed to find Gorky’s play “very funny,” and aimed to make “an easy and entertaining movie.” “Although most of the action takes place in one large room — effectively filmed with multiple cameras (witness the 180 degree camera reversals) — the visual fluidity and the extraordinary characterizations keep the picture alive” (Bloomsbury Foreign Film Guide). “One of Kurosawa’s finest works — all too little known” (Film Forum New York). B&W, 35mm, in Japanese with English subtitles. 125 mins.