Customer Reviews

Scandal [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Scadal" is an early Kurosawa film that gives a lot of suggestions of the Director's genius. However, the the plot suffers from being predictable and overstated. The two main characters are played by Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura who are, individually or together, in a majority of Akira Kurosawa's films. Mifune gives the better performance in his role as Ichiro Aoe; an artist who is secure in himself and his purpose. Shimura plays a lawyer named Hiruta who is just the opposite. Ichiro Aoe is insulted when a gossip magazine makes too much out of his chance encounter with a popular yet reclusive singer. Aoe is angered and he wishes to do something about it. In steps Hiruta. The film turns into a story about moral character (standing up for one's principles) and human frailty (Hiruta's weaknesses are rather excessive). The movie attempts to become a courtroom drama but Hiruta is so inept that the legal drama is missing. The ending is quite predictable which might have been avoided if Hiruta had been a bit less than the scoundrel that he becomes.

Fans of Mifune should enjoy this film. It is one of his better performances. Fans of Shimura will likely feel a bit disappointed in his role right out of a soap opera. Kurosawa probably had a lot of fun portraying the celebrity gossip magazine as the unethical "we're just in it for the money" collective group of villans. It's worth watching once.

As a film duo, Shimura and Mifune have a chemistry that is unmatched, and Scandal's themes are perfect holiday fare. I watch this film every season, right after A Christmas Carol.

1950 Japan was still reeling in the after effects of their defeat but average life must and did continue. This movie was advertised as a light comedy but it is,in fact a profound view of the average life of many within the Janese society still trying to find themselves in a whole new world. What was not previously mentioned is a scene when a Japanese opera star sings Silent Night and another that has drunken bar goers try to sing Auld Lang Sang, however spelled. The storyline is one matter, peek at daily life in an era we have seldom seen filmed at the time it happen is quite another. Most highly recommended.

The movie was pretty classic with a great plot going and interesting characters. The movie was hopeful and moving, and at many times, funny and thoughtful. the thing that bothered me was the ending. It left u wanting more. And there was a development within the movie that never really went through. Buy the movie and u'll see.

The movie was pretty classic with a great plot going and interesting characters. The movie was hopeful and moving, and at many times, funny and thoughtful. the thing that bothered me was the ending. It left u wanting more. And there was a development within the movie that never really went through. Buy the movie and u'll see.