Drama ·Romance · Japan · 1951 · 2h 46m

The Idiot

白痴

The Idiot poster
Director
Akira Kurosawa
Cast
Setsuko Hara as Taeko Nasu Masayuki Mori as Kinji Kameda Toshirō Mifune as Denkichi Akama Yoshiko Kuga as Ayako Takashi Shimura as Ono, Ayako's father Chieko Higashiyama as Satoko, Ayako's mother
Crew
Toshio Ubukata — Director of Photography Akira Kurosawa — Editor Fumio Hayasaka — Original Music Composer Akira Kurosawa — Screenplay Eijiro Hisaita — Screenplay Fyodor Dostoevsky — Novel
Synopsis

A gentle, war-shattered ex-soldier, Kinji Kameda, arrives in wintry Hokkaidō and is pulled into a volatile tangle of love and pity between the disgraced Taeko Nasu, the proud Ayako, and his possessive friend Akama. Kameda’s saintly compassion exposes everyone’s wounds, steering the quartet toward jealousy, violence, and inexorable tragedy. Adapted from Dostoevsky’s novel.

Mood & Themes
jealousylove trianglesnowblizzarddostoevskypost war japanepilepticrussian literature
Key Collaborators
Akira Kurosawa Director Toshio Ubukata Director of Photography Akira Kurosawa Editor Fumio Hayasaka Original Music Composer Akira Kurosawa Screenplay Eijiro Hisaita Screenplay Fyodor Dostoevsky Novel Takashi Koide Producer Yoshie Taguchi Costume Design
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