75.250

The "rant" scene with the rant is overwrought melodrama; not that Kurosawa ever shies away from "overwrought", but this was really just too blunt. And at times the film threatens to devolve into an educational reel about syphillis. But overall, the finer qualities tend to shine through, with Kurosawa's terrific sense of composition and a few masterfully executed scenes (the opening sequence and the climactic confrontation at the end in particular). And the story is watchable and satisfying.

As FFD said, the beginning and end scenes are both terrific, the rest is very melodramatic but well-made. I never thought I'd see the day when both Mifune Toshiro and Shimura Takashi were out-acted in the same movie!