Tag: ti: Hakuchi

“The Idiot” was released in Japan under the name “Hakuchi” in 1951, directed by Kurosawa Akira and later released in the United States in 1963. This drama film was based on the storyline by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky depicting the aftermath of World War II exploring the themes of money, relationships, friendships, and society. The main characters of Nasu Taeko, Kameda Kinji, and Akama Denkichi are played by Hara Setsuko, Mori Masayuki, and Mifune Toshiro, repectively. The two female characters are both attracted by the main male character, who has become an idiot after experiencing psychological trauma during the war,

After being released from a mental hospital in Okinawa, Kameda boards a train headed to his hometown of Hokkaido. On board the train, Kameda has a nightmare bringing back wartime memories of close to death situations. He lets out a horrible shriek waking up all those aboard the train. This incident on the train leads to Kameda befriending Akama, son of a wealthy family who takes an instant liking to him. After they arrive in Hokkaido, the majority of the people look down on Kameda because he is an idiot, but gradually change their minds after they find out he is kindhearted and not one to hold grudges against others who have mistreated him. As the story unfolds, Taeko is introduced as a woman who seems to “sell” herself to any man who can “bid” the highest amount of money. Akama successfully challenges Kayama to become the highest “bidder.” However, he soon finds out that he will never have her heart for she has fallen in love with Kameda. Akama is then torn between friendship and love.

What struck me the most about this film was Kurosawa’s camerawork. He uses steady shots with minimal zooming to focus on the characters throughout the length of their conversations and occasionally scanning the set to emphasis the setting. In the beginning of the movie, Kurosawa scans the length of the train to illustrate the atmosphere and the number of people Kameda has disturbed with his scream. The camera then stops and focuses on Kameda and Akama when they begin their conversation. In another scene, Kurosawa uses long shots to portray the lavish lifestyle Taeko enjoys at Kayama’s residence, showing the exquisite furnishings and the luxuries that are available to her. The long shots also emphasize the spaciousness of the house and the number of guests it can accommodate.

Another aspect of the film I really enjoyed was the selection of music and special sound effects used to accompany the storyline. It adds as well as giving emphasis to the atmosphere of the situation bringing out the emotions that the characters are experiencing.  One scene where this is demonstrated is when Kameda, Ayako, Mrs Ono, and Kayama were outside by the pond where a number of masked people were skating. At first, the music makes the mood mysterious and suspenseful. The atmosphere becomes more lighthearted and cheerful when the music changes into a more cheerful tone. Moreover, in the closing scenes of the film, the music playing in the background suggests what might have happened by defining the mood with sorrowful music. This helps the audience understand despite a vague ending.

This film gave me an insight on what how the war might have affected people, creating long term psychological problems. While the storyline was somewhat interesting, I found the film too slow-paced for my liking. The slow flow of the film left me impatient but allowed me sufficient time to read the English captions. Overall, I would recommend “The Idiot” to viewers interested in post-war Japanese cinema.

Kurosawa Akira’s very well-made movie The Idiot (Hakuchi, 1951), seems to show a genre of drama. Kurosawa seems be focusing on the aftereffects of war. Even though this movie was made after a period of time after the war, Kurosawa seeks to attempt to prove that the aftereffects of war can terrorize people through many years and affect them thoroughly in their lives.

The story begins with the main character Mr. Kameda screaming and waking up from his terrible nightmare of getting shot. He shares his nightmare experience with the person beside him whom is Mr. Akama and then explains to Mr. Akama that he suffers from a disease called “dementia epilepsy”. At first it seems to be that Kurosawa is already hinting to the audience that the idiot is Mr. Kameda himself. However, as the movie goes on, we see that Mr. Kameda encounters two women and both of them fall in love with him. Mr. Akama on the other hand, is a very wealthy man and is in love with one of the woman named Taeko. It seems to be that he is trying to marry Taeko but another character Mr. Kayama is also trying to marry Taeko for money and powerful social status. However, both of them do not get any chances as Taeko falls in love with Mr. Kameda. As time goes on, it shows that he cannot gain the trust and love from the woman he loves and so tragic events happen to him and the woman. In the end, it seems to me that the idiot is not only Mr. Kameda himself but Mr. Akama too.

Throughout the whole movie, the setting is always snowing which gives the audiences a chilling and unpleasant atmosphere. Also, the main character Mr. Kameda seems to be very gentle and always speaking his polite form in Japanese. However, the other people look down to him and speak to him impolitely in Japanese just because they know he suffers from the disease and thinks of him as an idiot. Moreover, Kurosawa always seems to try and focus the camera on Mr. Kameda and show the audiences his expressions. Usually, Mr. Kameda shows an expression of politeness or sorrow which makes me think that Kurosawa is trying to make the audience feel sympathy for Mr. Kameda. Also, because that the audience already know that Mr. Kameda suffers from the disease which creates another feeling of sympathy for him. Also, I also think that Mr. Kameda and many of the characters’ acting are all very realistic for they all got my attention.

From this movie, I think that it’s rather interesting for me to watch because I think the plots in the movie are rather intriguing and detailed. I personally love to watch dramatic movies that show many conflicts between the characters. Also, in this movie there seems to be a three way triangular love which intensifies the movie even more. Furthermore, it also occurs to me that the movie may be interesting, but the movie itself is a little too long in my opinion and also sometimes the storyline is very confusing which is hard to understand. I would still recommend this movie to everyone because I think it’s rather important to learn about the aftereffects of the World War II  on people and also how the war affects their living style.