The Lower Depths
Maxim Gorky’s most famous play, The Lower Depths, had been brought to film twice already before Akira Kurosawa’s 1957 adaptation. Jean Renoir had in 1936 brought the story to France, and in 1946 Indian director Chetan Anand had produced a version in Hindi. Of these it is Kurosawa’s film, which transposes the story to Edo-period Japan, that is most faithful to the bleak, character-driven play.
The film focusses on the interactions of an ensemble of characters living in a dilapidated slum. They are the discarded dregs of society - drunkards, thieves and prostitutes. Much of the film involves extended scenes of dialogue between the characters revealing each individuals discontent, and reflecting upon a greater unrest afflicting the lower classes. They’re each trying to find their way out of their oppression, but at the same time seem to accept the inevitability of their failure.
The film’s hero - or as close as we get in this film - is the thief Sutekuchi, portrayed by the charismatic Toshiro Mifune. He is revered by the weaker-willed inhabitants of the slum, and feared by the miserly landlord. The landlord may collect the rent, but it is Sutekuchi who holds power in the house.
The plot, mostly absent though it may be, involves a loveless affair between Sutekuchi and Osugi (Yamada), wife of the landlord. However Sutekuchi truly desires Okayo (Kagawa), Osugi’s younger sister, while Osugi desires her husband’s death. Osugi plots to seduce Sutekuchi into carrying out the deed.
The murderous plot is not as important to the film as are the characters who inhabit the plot. Mifune’s Sutekuchi is the one struggling the hardest to change his station. He is one of the few truly strong characters of the film, so it is telling that even he feels powerless in the face of fate. This serves to make his character all the more compelling, and Mifune charges him with a degree of dignity that makes it easy to sympathise with his struggle.
The old man Kahei (Hidari) offers a calm contrast to the turbulent Sutekuchi. He presents a voice of detached, ancient wisdom, and unlike the fallen samurai, the drunken actor, or the bitter tinkerer, he seems to have accepted his lot.
The film’s conclusion is an incredibly bleak reflection upon the meaningless of the lower-class struggle. In The Lower Depths the characters were all doomed from birth, and far from fighting this fate they simply accept it. Even the strongest of them are powerless - even unwilling - to challenge their fate.
A flaw of the film lies in its extended runtime. Though the characters are a joy to watch, their performances ranging from harrowing to hilarious, there are perhaps too many stories to cover here. The oppressive tedium of these peoples’ lives is over-communicated, and the film is more difficult to watch because of it. Despite this, the performances - especially Mifune and Hidari - are too good to pass up.
