生きものの記録
“死ぬのはやむを得ん しかし殺されるのはいやだ! 水爆と対決する生きものの叫び!”
あらすじ
町工場を経営する財産家・中島喜一は突然、原水爆とその放射能に対して強い恐怖を抱くようになり、地球上で唯一安全と思われる南米ブラジルへの親類縁者全員の移住を計画する。しかし、このあまりにも突拍子もない行動に対し、現実の生活が脅かされると感じた家族は喜一を準禁治産者として認めてもらうため裁判にかけるのだった。
“死ぬのはやむを得ん しかし殺されるのはいやだ! 水爆と対決する生きものの叫び!”
町工場を経営する財産家・中島喜一は突然、原水爆とその放射能に対して強い恐怖を抱くようになり、地球上で唯一安全と思われる南米ブラジルへの親類縁者全員の移住を計画する。しかし、このあまりにも突拍子もない行動に対し、現実の生活が脅かされると感じた家族は喜一を準禁治産者として認めてもらうため裁判にかけるのだった。
This is a far cry from the usual Kurosawa/Mifune effort; indeed in this, Toshirô Mifune is almost unrecognisable. No brave, honourable Samurai this time, but an elderly foundry-owner who is paranoid about the potential impact of nuclear war on his family. To this end, he is determined to sell up and relocate his family to Brazil. The family don't fancy this idea much and try to have him certified. What ensues is a battle of wills, priorities and personalities set against a traditional set of Japanese family structures and values. Viewed, largely, from the perspective of independent arbiter "Dr. Harada" (Takashi Shimura) who has been drafted in to help settle the matter amicably; we visit the perfectly valid (though frequently selfish) approaches taken by both Mifune and his family - who have plenty of scores to settle amongst themselves - as the film tries to establish the best course of action to satisfy both parties. There is quite an interesting scene mid-way through when at the height of their dispute, the old man returns to the court armed with bottles of pop which he has bought for his family to help combat the unrelenting heat, indicating that he clearly still cares greatly for his family, even though they are at loggerheads... and for me, that rather sums the whole thing up - there isn't necessarily a right or wrong solution; it's about individuality and choice but ultimately the happiness of others; and Mifune is great. I found the last fifteen minutes quite sad, perhaps building on the old adage about families and money. Japan, for a good while, struggled to reconcile itself to the realities of a post-Hiroshima threat, so from an observer some 6,000 miles away it can be hard to understand just how viscerally the danger of repetition was taken by many - this film is a thought provoking, emotional - and, at times humorous, glimpse into that fear.
