I'm not sure I really understood what was the point of Kurosawa's The Lower Depths. It was a well-made movie. The characters were well-drawn and distinguished clearly from each other. The movie was also clearly an adaptation from a play, but that isn't necessarily a strike against it. Even though all the action took place within two small buildings and the space between and around them that wasn't any part of why I didn't understand the movie. There are plenty of Shakespeare adaptations that don't cause this problem, and Rope is one of my favourite Hitchcock films. More details after the jump.
The play was written by Maxim Gorky and is a look at some of the problems and travails of the underclass. Toshiro Mifune and the amazing Isuzu Yamada star as two participants of a love triangle. Well, I guess there are two interlocking love triangles, really. Mifune has the hots for Yamada's sister, after having thrown Yamada over. Of course, Yamada has a husband with an interest here as well and there are plots and revenge envisioned. Add in a cast of dirt-poor people with problems all their own to revolve around this and a mysterious holy man who passes through and mix well. Result: an interesting, though perhaps not fascinating, movie that explores the reasons folks become poor, stay poor and their responses to their situations.
This is probably the first Kurosawa film I wouldn't be willing to buy. I liked it okay, but it failed to grip. It meandered a little too much and the plot failed to drive like I would have wanted. Realistic movies are all well and good, I suppose, but I do prefer them to be more entertaining or have a point. This one seemed to peter out with a whimper even if the ending was a bit inexplicable as well.
I don't know. If anyone else has seen it, could you explain what I'm missing here?
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