An entry in the contemporary crime genre of the Kurosawa-Mifune output, as opposed to the classic samurai. Mifune is strikingly young in this film, and it didn’t occur to me until later that this was one of his earliest collaborations with Kurosawa, and in fact, one of his first roles ever. Audiences at the time would not yet have made the connection between the two. The character’s lack of experience and his naivety makes the film. The emotional connection with the tired veteran, who almost loses his life in the process due to Murakami’s carelessness, adds to the stakes. Nearly every single scene reminded the viewer how this particular summer in Japan is oppressively hot. Rather than become repetitive, however, it only served to increase the pressure felt by the main detective with each passing hour he did not recover his gun. All of that culminates in a brilliant and satisfying ending.
No comments:
Post a Comment