The Idiot (1951)

Recommended

Japan

Feature Film

Original Title: 白痴

Director: Kurosawa Akira

Writers: Hisaita Eijirō, Kurosawa Akira, Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Cinematographer: Ubukata Toshio

Composer: Hayasaka Fumio

Cast: Hara Setsuko, Mori Masayuki, Mifune Toshirō, Kuga Yoshiko, Shimura Takashi, Higashiyama Chieko, Fumiya Chiyoko

An idiot, who was traumatised by a wartime incident in which he was moments away from being executed, finds his life increasingly filled with heartache and tragedy when two beautiful and very disparate young women enter his sphere, in Kurosawa’s vaguely camp and slightly melodramatic adaptation of Dostoyevsky’s acclaimed novel, which proves to be rather confusing at times (perhaps due to studio imposed cuts), but it is also a film filled with deftly acted and bravely constructed scenes of great power. Iain.Stott