Based on Maxim Gorky's 1902 play of the same name, master director Kurosawa translates The Lower Depths from a Russian dosshouse to an Edo-era Japanese slum without losing the potency of this profile of material and spiritual poverty. Populating this underworld is a smörgåsbord of social detritus—a thief, artisan, prostitute and their landlords. Shunned by society, they viciously turn their empty lives on one another, jeering and harassing each other in a world where even morality is a luxury.
DVD Special Features
Selected commentary by Monash University cinema academic Freda Freiberg Image Gallery
Release Information
Release Date: 12/09/2007 Languages: Japanese Genre:Drama Director:Akira Kurosawa Subtitles: English subtitles Runtime: 125.0 mins Format: DVD, Region 4 (PAL) Aspect Ratio: 4:3 Original Aspect Ratio Catalogue:
MMA2587
Quotes
"Kurosawa's very faithful transplant to the Tokyo slums... is fascinating simply as a tour de force. Marvellous performances, too, mining a rich vein of ironic humour amid all the misery" TIME OUT
"For there is in this oriental visioning of the Russian drama of poverty and despair a great deal of quality and technique that the cinema lover and student might profitably see.... Here Kurosawa, the brilliant master of passion and atmosphere... has restrained the gestures of his actors to a conspicuous degree, while concentrating upon their facial expressions and their slow, painful posturing of dismal moods." NEW YORK TIMES
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