The Idiot

Yoshiko Kuga and Setsuko Hara were wonderful, Toshirô Mifune and Takashi Shimura were solid, in fact most of the cast were really good. In fact only Masayuki Mori is the only weak link in my opinion, too bad he's the lead. The film feels really disjointed but I guess that makes sense because nearly two hours of the film was cut out.

I've never read Dostoyevsky's novel, but I'd always heard that it was "unfilmable." This one is pretty odd, and maybe if I had read the source material I could appreciate it a bit more. Even so, in its current form this movie is notably flawed by studio cuts. It's a series of bizarre events that, when taken individually, are quite elegant. As a whole though, the film is very disjointed. Hints of genius do show through at times, with beautiful Wintertime photography and some great acting.

A decent adaptation of an excellent novel.

Aware of it's problematic production, I was able to put on the same rose-tinted glasses I use while watching a significant portion of Orson Welles' career. The flaws are glaring, particularly in the pacing and narrative, Kurosawa's strongest suits, but I was still able to see the great movie in there despite that. Still, I can't help but long for the 90 or so minutes that are lost, as it probably would have made this one of his finest.

Oh, what could have been.

Opens with promise, but plods along well past its welcome with uninteresting characters and unremarkable filmmaking (although bits of Kurosawa's skill do still shine through). I can't imagine how the lost, longer print would have drastically improved this project, which was probably doomed from the start.

Libra

Mori is just awful. I found his performance actively irritating for most of the film, and watching his stupid face and his stupid hands hovering around his stupid neck made this a difficult two and a half hours to get through. This movie has a lot of problems, and probably shouldn't have been attempted in the first place, but it's made watchable by the amazing Setsuko Hara and Yoshiko Kuga. Without the striking presence of these two (and Mifune) this would have been a total waste.

Neutered

74.500

Another awfully slow-paced Kurosawa picture. There's a lot of meat to this story, but it's hard to identify with the characters as they all feel empty and one dimensional. They want one thing, live for one thing, die for one thing and we never see something else about them then that one thing.

What's left of this film is one of Kurosawa's most intriguing films. An air of mystique hangs over it, partly from the gorgeous wintry scenes and partly from the operatic melodrama. Most of the performances are over-the-top, but it suits the film so well. I longed to see more of Hara, playing very much against her Ozu-defined type but absolutely marvelous at it. I was just really impressed by the whole thing. But it is very slow.

Far from as bad as von Sternberg's Crime & Punishment but it's still a butchering of the novel. Probably one of Kurosawa's weakest efforts.

One can only wonder how much better this could have been had anyone been able to track down a full 266 minute print. What's left is a wonderful, slightly disjointed film full of great performances from Team Kurosawa along with Setsuko Hara as well as some gorgeous imagery and masterful directing. The Ice Carnival scene is not to be missed!

edebiyattan sinemaya uyarlamanin ne kadar zor oldugunun ispatlarindan biri. yonetmen hikayeyi toparlayabilmek icin yazarin tartistigi konulari oyle budamis ki salt trajik bir aska donusturmus.

Man, Setsuko Hara could act just by looking at you.

78.750

Despite a lot of obvious flaws, the core melodrama of this film works quite well, and I think the balance between high melodrama and thoughtfulness succeeds.

Could have been one of Kurosawa's finest.

I turn to Japan and Akira Kurosawa to see if they can help me appreciate Dostoevsky more. But it's more the visual presentation and staging that makes it compelling, and not so much the increasingly tragic story. Knowing the film was supposed to be around hundred minutes longer, I'm glad they cut it down. For the pacing was already slow and tiring in the 166 minute release. Masayuki Mori did do a strong job. Visually it's appealing. But something is lost in translation to peak the story.