The Lower Depths (1957)

"You'll learn to love me, the lessons are free." Don't bet on it.

The Lower Depths refers to a group of impoverished tenants living in a building that is propped up with beams and the cliff it leans against. It’s a dark comedy about people who have no hope for tomorrow, living close to the edge of death and pennilessness.

The film is based on the Russian playwright Maxim Gorky’s 1902 play. Most of the film is set inside the dilapidated tenement as if it were a play with characters walking on and off stage. The technique can make for a claustrophobic experience as if you were trapped in the room with straw covered floors and unlikeable characters and like them have no means of escape.

The film is one long unending conversation between the different characters. They spend their time complaining about their lot in life and complaining and gossiping about each other. There’s a tinker, a prostitute, a husband and wife, a thief, a cheating gambler, and an alcoholic cohabitating in the great room with bunk beds. Their usual tirades are broken up by the appearance of an older man, nicknamed Grandpa, who brings a bit of wisdom and compassion to the bickering group.

This was my least favorite Kurosawa by far. I didn't find any of the characters or performances particularly compelling. Even the charismatic Mifune Toshiro struggled to bring the thief having an affair with the landlord’s wife to life. The characters complained about their lives incessantly, but even when Grandpa tried to tell them there might be something better away from the toxic environment none of them took a chance to make the move. Only one did and it ended in utter disaster. Kurosawa at least got his consistent view of women out of the way in the first scene by having a character state that all women are liars.

There is much discussion about when telling the truth is bad and telling a lie is good. The benefits and downfalls of money is also discussed. “Money buys your fate in hell.” “Human kindness can’t be bought with pennies or silver.”

I suppose I need more white space, and this film had too many words crammed together from beginning to end with scarcely a breath or compelling action taken between them. Acts of compassion were few and far between causing the characters to not resonate with me. This room full of characters failed to enlighten me on the social plight of the poor, the failings of the state, or how people even in dire situations look out for each other. Though there were moments of almost grudging kindness there weren’t any likeable characters, with the possible exception of Grandpa. Truly by the last moments of the film with its extremely abrupt ending, I wasn’t sure what I was to take away from this story other than a window into a deeply flawed group of impoverished people trying to get through the day knowing that when tomorrow comes it will not be any better.

If you are interested in watching a Kurosawa film, this is not the one to start with. If you are a Kurosawa fan, this is a must see, as it differs from the films preceding it and is worth a look.

1/6/23

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