I Live in Fear
"Ikimono no Kuroku" aka "Record of a Living Being"(1952)
| Title: | I Live in Fear |
| Descriptor: | Nakajima, played by Mifune, which you can hardly tell, is an old patriarch - he has one wife, own a foundry where the workers admire him, and has two missresses and one son by a deceased misstress. He is brought to court by his legitamate children to be tried for insantity. The ground they plead? That he's obsessed with the Atomic and H-bombs - so much so that he has dug shelters, and now wants to move everyone in the family, misstresses and all, to Brazil. Hirata, a local dentist, played by Shimura, can relate to the old man's fears - "aren't we all afraid of the destruction of the world?." In fact, the issue of insanity was judged more in terms of practicality than on actual clinical terms - Nakajima was not insane, but he was indeed an extremist. For practical reasons, Nakajima is deemed insane and all his assets frozen. He immediately files for an appeal, but the process is slow, too slow. Neighbors and family torment Nakajima and his fear of H-bombs. "I was not afraid of the H-bomb when I could do something about it, now I am deeply afraid." Eventually he is taken to the psychiatric ward. Do we create our own insane? Furthermore, are the really sane ones the ones that we confine - and we, who preferr to see things practically, the ones who are really insane? |
| Date Watched: | July 11, 2001 |
| Comments: | You can hardly tell Mifune from himself under all the makeup and the slouch. He is really good in this film. Through it we are forced to see through Hirata's eyes, and to empathize with the one who is insane - he seemes to be the one with the biggest heart and the deepest concern - everyone else is looking for his wealth. "As long as we can work we can survive." says Nakajima. But his children cannot relate to working - they are the second generation who are going to hinherit the wealth that the first generations sweat accumulated. Not only is this film a commentary on the A-bomb, that which loomed and looms over our heads, but also of the generational gap - the inability of children to understand parents and vice versa...perhaps we will kill each other before the H-bombs do? Otherwise, if we all move to another planet - then we can start agan. |
