Ikimono no kiroku (1955)

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Akira Kurosawa (story)
Shinobu Hashimoto
(more)

Release Date:

25 January 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

An aging, industrialist Japanese man becomes so fearful of nuclear war that it begins to take a toll on his life and family.

Plot Keywords:

Foundry | Nuclear | All Knowing Psychiatrist | Paranoia | Mistress

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Toshirô Mifune	...	Kiichi Nakajima
Takashi Shimura	...	Domestic Court Counselor Dr. Harada
Minoru Chiaki	...	Jiro Nakajima
Eiko Miyoshi	...	Toyo Nakajima
Kyôko Aoyama	...	Sue Nakajima
Haruko Tôgô	...	Yoki Nakajima
Noriko Sengoku	...	Kimie Nakajima
Akemi Negishi	...	Asako Kuribayashi
Hiroshi Tachikawa	...	Ryoichi Sayama
Kichijirô Ueda	...	Mr. Kuribayashi father
Eijirô Tôno	...	Old man from Brazil
Yutaka Sada	...	Ichiro Nakajima
Kamatari Fujiwara	...	Okamoto
Ken Mitsuda	...	Judge Araki
Masao Shimizu	...	Yamazaki, Yoshi's husband (as Gen Shimizu)
Atsushi Watanabe	...	Factory Worker Ishida
Kiyomi Mizunoya	...	Satoko
Toranosuke Ogawa	...	Hori, the lawyer
Nobuo Nakamura	...	Psychologist
Bokuzen Hidari	...	Landowner
Saoko Yonemura	...	Taeko
Yoshio Tsuchiya	...	Factory Worker After Fire
Akira Tani	...	Chunky Jailbird
Kokuten Kôdô	...	Workers' Older Family Member
Kazuo Katô	...	Susumu
Senkichi Ômura	...	Skinny Jailbird
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Noriko Honma	...	Family member of workers (uncredited)
Kyorô Sakurai	...	Worker at factory (uncredited)

Directed by
Akira Kurosawa

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Shinobu Hashimoto
Fumio Hayasaka		story
Akira Kurosawa		story
Hideo Oguni

Produced by
Sôjirô Motoki	....	producer

Original Music by
Masaru Satô		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Asakazu Nakai

Production Design by
Yoshirô Muraki

Costume Design by
Miyuki Suzuki

Makeup Department
Sadako Okada	....	hair stylist
Junjiro Yamada	....	hair designer

Production Management
Hiroshi Nezu	....	in charge of production

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Hisanobu Marubayashi	....	chief assistant director
Takeo Nakamura	....	assistant director
Samaji Nonagase	....	assistant director
Ken Sano	....	assistant director
Yasuyoshi Tajitsu	....	assistant director

Art Department
Oyako Kato	....	assistant art director
Kiyoshi Toda	....	property master

Sound Department
Ichirô Minawa	....	sound effects editor
Fumio Yanoguchi	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Masao Fukuda	....	still photographer
Shozo Hada	....	assistant lighting technician
Kuichirô Kishida	....	lighting technician
Takao Saitô	....	assistant camera

Editorial Department
Chozo Kobata	....	negative cutter

Music Department
Hachiro Matsui	....	composer: song "Cherry Pink Mambo"
Masaru Satô	....	conductor (uncredited)
Masaru Satô	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Teruyo Nogami	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Toho Company

Distributors

• Cowboy Pictures (2002) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Théâtre du Temple (2006) (France) (theatrical)
• Brandon Films (1967) (USA) (subtitled)
• British Film Institute (BFI) (2005) (UK) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2008) (USA) (DVD) (as Eclipse from the Criterion Collection)
• Criterion Collection, The (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (Australia) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (New Zealand) (DVD)
• Nihon Eiga Satellite Broadcasting (2007) (Japan) (TV)
• Toho Company
• Universe Laser & Video Co. Ltd. (2002) (Hong Kong) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Toho Studios  sound stages

Also Known As:

"I Live in Fear" - International (English title) (imdb display title), USA
"I Live in Fear: Record of a Living Being" - International (English title)
"Record of a Living Being" - Japan (informal literal title)
"What the Birds Knew" -
"Ani hai befahad" - Israel (Hebrew title) (alternative title)
"Bilanz eines Lebens" - West Germany
"Chronique d'un être vivant" - France
"Crónica de un ser vivo" - Spain
"Egy lény feljegyzései" - Hungary (imdb display title)
"Ein Leben in Furcht" - West Germany
"Notes d'un être vivant" - France
"Si les oiseaux savaient" - France
"Testimonianza di un essere vivente" - Italy
"Vivo no Medo" - Portugal
"Vivre dans la peur" - France
"Zyje w strachu" - Poland

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | UK:PG (video rating) (1998) | UK:A (original rating) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Toho Studios, Tokyo, Japan

Company:

Toho Company

Trivia:

This was Kurosawa's first film to lose money during its initial release.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hachi-gatsu no kyôshikyoku (1991)

Somewhat underrated

Based on reviews I had read, I was expecting either a facile ban-the-bomb message film, or a story about greedy relatives trying to have an old man committed so they can get his money.

I should have known better. Part of Kurosawa's genius in his great middle period (1950-1965) is that he refuses to insist on anything. He fairly presents a series of events and invites us to decide what, if anything, they mean.

Everyone in this film has a point. No one here is really a villain. Even those who are jerks (notably the second son, Jiro) are really trying to do the right thing. And the film reminds me a little of THE CAINE MUTINY in that it very artfully moves our sympathies in one direction for most of the film before presenting us with events that make us wonder if we were wrong.

Toshiro Mifune gives a fine performance as Nakajima, but to tell the truth, I wish Kurosawa had given the role to Takashi Shimura, not only because I think Shimura would have played the role even better, but because it would have given him one more tour-de-force leading role in a Kurosawa film, coming directly after IKIRU and SEVEN SAMURAI. Granted, though, that such a move probably would have caused problems with both Toho and Mifune.