What an absolutely incredible film! Just top notch all the way through, it’s entire 150 minute length. I mean you don’t even know the reasons for the main characters action for an hour and 10 minutes into the movie. And of course with the amazing Mifune Toshiro in the lead how could the film be bad, though much different here than his tough guy Samurai image, as the secretary to a big boss, with slicked back hair a business suite and glasses, he gives such an impressive performance as the all too mortal man who can’t be as evil as he needed to be when fighting evil, so he lost. It is a tale of failed revenge, a woman destroyed, and the man responsible getting away with his job, but having lost his family for his actions.

This is also Kurosawa’s first film away from Toho, at Kurosawa Productions. A most impressive film, with a scathing social commentary on the back door deals and graft in Japanese business.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

Mifune Toshiro plays the restrained and soft spoken secretary, Nishi Koichi to Vice President Iwabachi (Mori Masayuki) who work at a public works company that has had dealings with another company that is involved in a corruption investigation. The film starts with Nishi’s wedding to Iwabuchi’s beautiful but lame daughter Yoshiko (Kagawa Kyoko). The wedding party is intererupted by police wanting to question 2 of Iwabauchi’s chief lieutenants the calm Moriyama (Shimura Takashi from Seven Samurai) and the nervous Shirai (Nishimura Akira). The wedding goes on, but is interrupted by the arrival of a second wedding cake shaped like the company building with a rose in a 7th story window where a man jumped out and committed suicide 7 years before. The Police arrest Iwabachi’s lieutenants as well as 2 underlings, and when one is released and going to be arrested for embezzlement he kills himself. The other Wada (Fujiwara Kamatari) is going to throw himself in a volcano but Nishi stops him, and puts him up at his friend Itakura’s place (Kato Takeshi), and takes him to watch his own funeral playing a tape of Iwabachi’s underlings laughing about having made Wada commit suicide, so Wada will help Nishi on his revenge. Nishi eventually starts driving Shirai crazy, and make the other’s doubt him, so he kidnaps him and takes him to the office where the jumped out of the window, as he was forced to die by Iwabachi, Shirai and Moriyama. This was Nishi’s illegitimate father, and he has spent 5 years on revenge, and he doesn’t kill Shirai but does drive him crazy, but it is covered up by Iwabachi. Moriyama gets suspicious and finds out that Nishi is actually Itakura (he changed identities with his friend) and the son of the man who committed suicide, and Iwabachi’s son Tatsuo (Mihashi Tatsuya) finds out as well. Nishi heads home with flowers for the wife, he has admitted he now loves, though he has never consummated the marriage, but he is confronted by Tatsuo and must run. Yoshiko is distraught. Moriyama goes to find the real Nishi, and they kidnap him and take him to an old munitions factory they worked at, so they have him locked in a room, which Nishi and Itakura wait outside, but Wada disapears, but he returns with Yoshiko, who loves Nishi, and is relieved he loves her, but still loves his father, and he still wants him to pay for his crimes. Yoshiko goes home, and he father drugs he and figures out where Nishi is. Tatsuo returns home to find Yoshiko and she realizes she was tricked and they go to find Nishi, and pass a destroyed car on the road. They find a distraught Itakura who can never go back to his true identiity because Nishi has been killed, injected with grain alcohol and left in his car on train tracks to die a horrible death, and Wada has been taken too as well as Moriyama. Iwabachi holds a press conference over losing his son, and explains off Nishi’s calling for a press conference. He calls his boss to resign, but is sent overseas for a while, but his daughter and son are their, Yoshiko and Tatsuo, but Yoshiko has lost her mind, and Tatsuo declares they are no longer his children, but he is left not in jail and still with a job, but family-less for his actions.

What an amazing and gorgeous film, with actually very little music, mostly Mifune whistling, and incredible cinematography. Gorgeously lit, with even an amazing scene with Mifune confronting the first of his enemies that seems to be lit only by his flashlight.

Kurosawa is the king, and this film further cements that in my mind. He really was one of the greatest director’s the world has ever known, and probably ever will know.

On the Criterion DVD is an excellent 30 minute documentary on the making of the film, with surviving crew and actors, though I felt missing a bit on Mifune, who is only talked about by 2 people. One for being really nice and understanding, and one for really getting into character and getting violent and intense. You do get a good look at Kurosawa though, but I do wish it was longer! Still interesting watch.