Directed by: Akira Kurosawa
Adapted from the classic Russian literature of the same title written by Fyodor Dostoevsky, "The Idiot" told about Kameda (Mori), who had been in Asylum on Okinawa, travels to Hokkaido. Where he then become invloved with two women, Takeo (Hara) and Ayako (Kuga). Taeko comes to love Kameda, but is loved in turn by Akama (Mifune). And when Akama realizes that he will never have Taeko, his thoughts turn to murder, and great tragedy ensues.
Against Kurosawa's will, the film was cut off by 100 minutes by the studio who released it. It shall remembered by the remarks made by Kurosawa who tells the studio to physically cut the film instead of asking him to cut it. That leaves us with a "mere" 2,75 hours movie.
The extensive cutting was clearly visible ultimately at the beginning of the film, when oftenly the scenes keep jumping (leaping is much more like it) to and fro, accompanied by mostly-useless extensive subtitle about who and what was happened between one scene and another. This has made the movie was rather hard to follow. It's like swallowing a bitter pill dry. It's good for your health, but you must endure the bitterness of the pill in order to have it.
As forementioned, the film was kick-offed in a hurry. The characters' introduction seems like overflowing from the screen. All the names, all the events that linked them, and all the relationships between those names. Furthermore, some are still hidden in the hazy-fog, even after nearly 72 hours had passed since i've appreciated the movie. All those haphazardous arrangements ultimately summed-up like all the rivers flowing into the sea into a total confusion, when suddenly after the appearance of a woman (Taeko), all the main casts with some other casts crumpled up together in a melodramatic humor and tragedy with only faint and thin red line that connected them. It's almost unforgivable if i hadn't known that the film (against Kurosawa's will) was extensively edited.
The film itslef was separated into two clearly divided parts. One part consists of introduction to the characters, and the love story between Taeko and Kameda with Akama in the shadows. Here we'd see the powerful Mifune. With his mere presence in the backdrops of Taeko and Kameda he's just like a bomb ready to explode. He's so menacingly powerful here. And he delivers that power smoothly into the screen.
Part two, with slight better narration since the cutting barely touch it, deals with the relationship between Kameda and Ayako. Only this time, instead of Akama stands in the backdrop, Taeko was stands as their shadows with Akama lurking still further behind.
I found that the film is amazingly powerful in term of its characterization. All the casts even the minor roles are powerful and able to deliver the power and the tone which portrayed in its original "The Idiot". It's like watching a silent movie of 20's or 30's instead of a black-white movie of 50's. I could feel Akama's rage and despair, i could feel Ayako's weakness and yet strong determinations, i could feel Taeko's proudness and sadness, and i could feel -- though i found myself hating him in the end of the film -- Kameda's pureness by merely looking at their body languages. Mr. Kurosawa himself was very successful in directing the movie as he superbly smooth translate (if not due to the cut, it may be even smoother) the novel into a portrayed humanity which he is very good at.
With the original 4 hours ++ unavailable to public, if anyone of you, my beloved readers wanted to appreciate this movie should be aware that this film was intended to those who is familiar with Dostoevsky's "The Idiot" or at least had the glimpse of what characters are like in the novel. Since this film -- again, despite of its lack of consistency and coherent logical plot due to the extensive cutting -- was a feast of powerful characters.
Rating: ** / **** - Why two? the rating goes for the 160+ minutes version, when the extensive cutting had diminished most of the coherent logical plot that interconnected the scenes. Especially in the first part where the characters were being introduced. But still, Kameda was my second best character (after Scarlett O'Hara) with his duality (i found my pity for him during the first part, but then my pity grows into hate toward the end of the second part, and at the end of the movie, i couldn't decide whether i should hated him or pitied him).