The Lower Depths (1957)

In a run-down Edo tenement, an elderly man and his bitter wife rent out rooms and beds to the poor. The tenants are gamblers, prostitutes, petty thieves and drunk layabouts, all struggling to survive. The landlady’s younger sister Okayo who helps the landlords with the maintenance of the place, brings in an old man Kahei and rents him a bed. Kahei quickly assumes the role of the mediator and grandfatherly figure, though there is an air of mystery about him and some of the tenants suspect his past is not unblemished. Sutekichi, the thief and self-appointed tenement leader, is having an affair with Osugi the landlady, though he is gradually shifting his attention to her younger and sweet-tempered sister, Okayo. Okayo thinks little of him, however, which frustrates Sutekichi and sours his relationship with Osugi. Jealous and vengeful, Osugi conspires to seduce Sutekichi to murder her husband so she can turn him over to the authorities. Sutekichi sees through her seduction and refuses to take any part in the murder. The husband discovers the affair, gets into a fight with Sutekichi, and is saved only through Kahei’s intervention. As Okayo begins to slowly like Sutekichi, she is beaten up by her sister and husband. Thankfully she is saved by the tenants and when Sutekichi hears of this he goes ballistic and in the chaos that follows Osugi’s husband is accidentally killed by him. He and Osugi are arrested by the authorities but Kahei whose testimony could clear him has run away. What will ultimately happen to Sutekichi?

The Lower Depths isn’t one of Akira Kurosawa’s best loved movies and it’s easy to see why that is the case. I might be in the minority here but I found most of it to be extremely dull. It’s almost like a stage play with a lot of the movie played out in one location where characters walk in and out. The movie didn’t really hold my attention at all and it was only the great Toshiro Mifune that made it bearable for me. Then again he’s always fantastic. The love triangle between his character Sutekichi and the two females Osugi and Okayo is probably the best aspect of the movie. The first hour just drifted by with nothing of any note happening except for the characters to just talk, talk and talk some more. There are couple of humourous moments to lift the depressing mood of the movie. It’s directed well by Kurosawa and the acting isn’t bad at all, the problem is just with the story itself in that it’s uninteresting.

This is the first movie by Kurosawa that I haven’t really enjoyed and couldn’t wait for it to end. It was so disappointing and unappealing. This movie isn’t a good place to start watching Kurosawa’s movie catalogue. I would definitely seek something else instead.

I can’t find a trailer I’m afraid.

Sadako’s Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5