Scandal (1950 film)
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| 醜聞(スキャンダル) Scandal |
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 Original Japanese poster |
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| Directed by | Akira Kurosawa |
| Produced by | Takashi Koide |
| Written by | Akira Kurosawa Ryuzo Kikushima |
| Starring | Toshirô Mifune Takashi Shimura Shirley Yamaguchi |
| Music by | Fumio Hayasaka |
| Distributed by | Shochiku Co. Ltd. |
| Release date(s) | 30 April 1950 |
| Running time | 104-5 min. |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Scandal is the English title of the Japanese film 醜聞 (Shubun), aka スキャンダル (Sukyandaru, the Japanese render for "scandal"), written and directed by Akira Kurosawa in 1950.
The film stars Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura and Shirley Yamaguchi. It is in black-and-white and runs 104 minutes.
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[edit] Plot
Ichiro Aoye (Toshirô Mifune), a famous young painter, accidentally meets a famous young singer, Miyako Saijo (Shirley Yamaguchi) whilst holidaying in the mountains. After discovering they are both staying at the same inn he offers to give her a ride to where they are staying. On the way, they are spotted by photographers for the tabloid magazine 'Amour'who follow the two. As Saijo refuses the photographers an interview they plot their revenge by taking a photograph of the couple having an innocent discussion and print it under the headline 'The Love Story of Miyako Saijo'. During the subsequent media circus, Aoye is approached by a lawyer Hiruta (Takashi Shimura) who convinces him to sue the magazine. Aoye agrees but Hiruta, desperate to buy money to buy gifts for his bedridden daughter Masako (Yôko Katsuragi) accepts a bribe from the editor of the magazine to throw the trial. After spending a drunken evening out with Aoye, Hiruta has a revelation that it is not too late to do the right thing and, struck by the kindness of Aoye and Saijo towards his daughter and Masako's own disgust at the way he is handling the case, Hiruta confesses all and though he is disbarred, his reputation is saved and Amour loses the case. The film ends on a sad note with the death of Masako.
[edit] Commentary
Scandal was described by Kurosawa himself as a protest film about 'the rise of the press in Japan and it's habitual confusion of freedom with license.' Kurosawa was noted for being exceptionally wary of the press in general (and didn't read any criticism of his own work, whether positive or negative), a situation which was not aided when he was romantically linked with the actress Hideko Takamine (with whim he had worked on the 1941 film Horses, with the media claiming it was an unrequited love. As a fiercely private individual this was of particular annoyance to Kurosawa. It perhaps isn't conincidental that Mifune's character in the film is a painter - Kurosawa had toyed with the idea of becoming a painter before becoming a director (a passion he retained during his life - he was famous for often painting the storyboards for his films) and is probably indicitive of the amount of personal involvement Kurosawa had with the film.
[edit] Reception
Scandal is often seen as one of the lesser entrants in the Kurosawa cannon by critics, and is often condemnded for being overly black-and-white in its portyal of journalists and for having lightweight central characters - Mifune and Yamaguchi are often criticised for their lightweight performances. The reputation of the film is not helped by the fact it was followed by Rashomon, Kurosawa's breakthrough film and oftern considered one of the greatest films of all time. On the plus side, Takeshi Shimura's performance as Hiruta has been widely praised, and it is seen as a protype for his role as Watanabe in Ikiru. Also, despite critical distaste, the film is popular amongst the public, with a rating of 7.6 on IMDB putting it within the top 20 most popular Kurosawa films.
[edit] External links
- Shubun at IMDB
- Shubun at Movies Unlimited
- Scandal at Rotten Tomatoes
- Image of Scandal's poster
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| Japanese Cinema |  |
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| Films directed by Akira Kurosawa | ||
| 1940s | Sanshiro Sugata | The Most Beautiful | Sanshiro Sugata Part II | The Men Who Tread On the Tiger's Tail | Those Who Make Tomorrow | No Regrets for Our Youth | One Wonderful Sunday | Drunken Angel | The Quiet Duel | Stray Dog | |
|---|---|---|
| 1950s | Scandal | Rashomon | The Idiot | Ikiru | Seven Samurai | I Live in Fear | Throne of Blood | The Lower Depths | The Hidden Fortress | |
| 1960s | The Bad Sleep Well | Yojimbo | Sanjuro | High and Low | Red Beard | |
| 1970s | Dodesukaden | Dersu Uzala | |
| 1980s | Kagemusha | Ran | |
| 1990s | Dreams | Rhapsody in August | Madadayo | |
