The Idiot – Hakuchi (1951)

Directed by: Akira Kurosawa | 166 minutes | drama | Actors: Masayuki Mori, Toshirô Mifune, Setsuko Hara, Takashi Shimura, Chieko Higashiyama, Chiyoko Fumiya, Eijirô Yanagi, Yoshiko Kuga, Minoru Chiaki, Eiko Miyoshi, Noriko Sengoku, Mitsuyo Akashi, Bokuzen Hidari, Daisuken Kooue

Akira Kurosawa will always be remembered as the man who made samurai movies great. Titles like ‘The Seven Samurai’ (first action film) and ‘Rashomon’ (who dunnit thriller) have been on a pedestal for generations. In terms of action and spectacle, the Japanese filmmaker is a primal force that should not be underestimated. Less well known is Kurosawa’s softer side, which he showed in films like ‘Ikiru’ and ‘The Idiot’. It is incomprehensible that ‘Ikiru’ is not mentioned in the same breath as Kurosawa’s samurai masterpieces. The fact that ‘The Idiot’ is ignored is justifiable. Not that the film is bad, but it is tough enough to repel a large audience.

‘The Idiot’ is Kurosawa’s adaptation of Dostoevsky’s Russian novel of the same name. That fat pill resulted in a movie that originally clocked over three hours. Far too long, according to the Japanese studio bosses, which meant that the film was considerably shortened. Kurosawa looked at the celluloid mutilation with dismay and the audience later too. ‘The Idiot’ was ignored by the moviegoers. Many years later, the work was dusted again. What did the viewer miss?

The film revolves around Kameda (Masayuki Mori), a veteran who was wrongly mistaken for a war criminal and only managed to escape execution at the last minute. He travels to Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island. That’s where the tortured soldier becomes involved in a bizarre love affair: a local millionaire seems so eager to get rid of his concubine Taeko (Setsuko Hara) that he offers 600,000 yen to whoever wants to marry her. There is no shortage of candidates: the ambitious Kayama is mainly after the money, while the clumsy Takama (Kurosawa’s resident actor Toshirô Mifune) has been dreaming of Taeko for years. Kameda, the idiot who can’t lie and doesn’t even have the ability to be insincere, walks through those complex love affairs like a lightning rod. He is more or less the empathy incarnate: he understands everyone, feels for everyone, only wants the best for everyone. He personifies goodness, a dangerous quality with love and money at stake.

Interesting questions that are not well worked out. Kurosawa’s garbled film is too chaotic and fragmentary to be captivating for the full running time. The acting, especially Mifune, compensates a lot, but not everything. If the original length of 265 minutes (!) had been maintained, the film would probably have had more impact. Now the off-the-rack structure is too unclear and surprising to continue to fascinate. Sin. But a failed Kurosawa film is still worth watching for its progressive canmera techniques and beautiful black-and-white images. Definitely worth a look for lovers of the Asian master.