Hakuchi (1951)
Genre: Drama
Duration: 166 minuten
Alternative title: The Idiot
Country:
Japan
Directed by: Akira Kurosawa
Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Setsuko Hara and Masayuki Mori
IMDb score:
7,1 (6.188)
Releasedate: 23 May 1951
This movie is not available on US streaming services.
Hakuchi plot
Kameda, who has been in an asylum in Okinawa due to war trauma, travels to Hokkaido, where he comes into contact with the beautiful Taeko, who is about to marry the wealthy Kayama. Kameda notices that Taeko has an unhappy life, and he is so upset that he tries to make Taeko happy.
Actors and actresses
Taeko Nasu
Kinji Kameda
Denkichi Akama
Ayako
Ono, Ayako's father
Satoko, Ayako's mother
Tohata
Mutsuo Kayama, the secretary
Takako
Junpei
Reviews & comments
Co Jackso
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- 21924 messages
- 2791 votes
While Hakuchi won't diminish my appreciation for Akira Kurosawa, I still think that this project was a partial failure. The 200+ version will probably not be able to change that much either. The film is a bit too theatrical for me, in addition, many sentences and developments are repeated a number of times. This eventually gets tedious, especially if the movie is quite slow in its own right.
Visually, the whole is worth a big pass and the actor who plays Kameda is very strong. The premise of the film is quite interesting and ambitious, but my rating would probably have been higher if some scenes had been shortened.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Spetie
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- 38871 messages
- 8247 votes
I'm completely unfamiliar with the novel, which Hakuchi is a movie adaptation of, so I went into it quite ignorant, hoping Kurosawa made something beautiful out of it. Fortunately, it succeeded, although the film itself is certainly not without flaws. I am not surprised that a longer version ever existed. Especially in the beginning you can sometimes clearly notice that there has been a cut. Things don't always go smoothly and "empty bits" are filled with music and text.
It didn't take me long to get into the story though. Kurosawa sketches things quite clearly and his fine dynamic camera work is clearly an added value here. In addition, the acting is exceptionally good. Toshirô Mifune is very strong as the good guy Denkichi Akama and it's always nice to see Takashi Shimura play. However, the show is stolen by Setsuko Hara. What a very good actress she is. I've never seen her play a bad or mediocre role, so I was pleasantly surprised to find her in this, as I hadn't come across her outside of Yasujiro Ozu's work. The rest of the cast is also more than fine.
The story moves more smoothly in the second half. There's a ton of dialogue, but that doesn't seem to be a problem. I was also quite empathetic with the characters and was not bored for a moment during the more than 160 minutes. Once again Kurosawa proves his enormous versatility by delivering excellent work in this genre as well.
4.0*
Translated from Dutch · View original
mjk87 (moderator films)
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- 14596 messages
- 4552 votes
I have read Dostoevsky's novel twice, the last time last year. The novel is entertaining but also flawed and soapy. This film, on the other hand, is a flawed version of that and emphasizes the interpersonal aspects, less on other passages from the novel. Although atmosphere and message are well conveyed, I think the novel is better and more fun and fascinating. Nevertheless, this film is fascinating enough, especially for the 166 minutes that it lasts. Partly because of the good acting. Mifune comes across as very powerful and Hara is perfectly cast.
The setting is different, from metropolitan Saint Petersburg to a snowy village on Hokkaido and that village feels like an island on an island, cut off from the rest. This also allows much more emphasis on the characters because they are cut off from the rest. And it produces beautiful pictures. These days I often complain about a tight image size that people sometimes use, because it has an oppressive effect. But Kurosawa shows how you can also have wide shots with it. Lots of beautiful pictures and scenes, from that country with tall slender trees to that skating with fire right at the beginning of part 2.
Anyway, despite the acting, I didn't always find the film very strong on a dramatic level. I think partly because of the flawed parts, but also the somewhat slow moments in which the drama takes place. Especially towards the end with long static shots. In any case, the film didn't really grab me and started to lose attention at times. There is enough beauty in it, but the experience was much less at times, so tight at 3.0 *.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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