"It's a crime to put such a good thing out there."
"Why do we hate each other?"
"That gave me a purpose in life, which is to make rich people unhappy." "So are you unhappy?"
After listening to Stephen Prince's commentary soundtrack, in addition to making me understand the details inside and outside the play, it also made me re-examine and think about this movie that was originally the top ten in my heart.
The ending of "Heaven and Hell" elevates the entire film by a level above other films that depict the disparity between the rich and the poor. Akira Kurosawa did not stop the film to criticize social injustice, nor did it favor a certain class, but put the two stages on an equal footing and had an equal dialogue. Attempts to get both parties to know each other a little better, though likely unsuccessful. He did not give an answer to the question of the disparity between the rich and the poor, but only revealed this contradiction. This is not the fault of one party, but it can also be said to be the "fault" of all, because human beings are a whole and "we are responsible for everything". Through the reflection of the glass, you are in me, and I am in you.
The male protagonist's victim's sympathy for the perpetrator completely shattered the perpetrator's "revenge". Are rich and poor necessarily antagonistic and hating each other? The male protagonist doesn't think it is necessary at all, and he will go to see the murderer for the last time to prove it. For the poor, however, the mere existence of the rich's "heavenly kingdom" reminds them that their environment is "hell."
To the poor it seems that the rich are always rich and have nothing but money. In this movie, the murderer would not care that the rich male protagonist started with his own craftsmanship, and was kicked out by people from his own company. However, the male protagonist was temporarily separated from the intrigue and material life in the mall because of this. He could still rebuild his career with his own hands. He did not lose heart or give up, but he also looked down on material things. It was a good thing for his spirit. As a trainee doctor, the murderer has a bright future, but he is eager for quick success and indulges in the victim mentality.
Akira Kurosawa is definitely not trying to say "Winner is winner, loser is loser." This kind of trash talk. On the contrary, the only way to stay sane in this material society is to not care about material things. Otherwise, the more you want to enter the kingdom of heaven, the more you will fall into hell.
In my opinion, the theme of "Heaven and Hell" is the most ancient of Kurosawa's films. Although one of the main reasons for Kurosawa's story is to call for heavier sentences for kidnappings. But the film is certainly not educational, nor does it stay at the level of crime. In any society from ancient times to the present, there will be conflicts between the rich and the poor. I often see people who hate the rich on the Internet. Of course, there are no adulterers or businessmen, but many people hate the rich just because the rich are not themselves. If given the opportunity to get rich, they will do whatever they can. It is not a certain class that causes the confrontation between the rich and the poor, but the society and everyone's inner demons. It is people who make up a society, and it is people's desires that form the social atmosphere. Everyone is a perpetrator and a victim.
In addition to being deeply thematically, it is also perfect in terms of film technology. Originally I thought "Twelve Angry Men" and "Heaven and Hell" were the best blockers for indoor dramas. Listening to the commentary track, I learned that it was indeed influenced by Lumet's "Twelve Angry Men", and even the role of the police detective was a reference to Henry Fonda.
The interior scenes for the first part of "Heaven and Hell" were shot with two cameras simultaneously outside the venue. Like a stage play, the performance range is elevated, and the camera captures the actors' movements from a distance. No wonder the camera can move like this indoors. The fact that the two cameras were shot at a distance at the same time also made the actors perform without considering the camera position. Director Kurosawa felt that the actor's performance was the best. Unlike European directors, Japanese directors attach great importance to performance. Akira Kurosawa's group play composition is impeccable, everyone has a play, but naturally it is not messy. At the same time, the beauty of the "stage play" and the film is captured, and the movement is captured in still and limited scenes. There are very few film directors today who can shoot widescreen.
Pink smoke is famous, and the composition and editing of the bar scene are also very cinematic, but my favorite scene is the "My Sun" part. In the tense moment of catching the murderer, this soft and beautiful music is broadcast, the strong contrast is so beautiful. It's still the one that shocked me the most. However, the original score of Sato Katsu also influenced Morricone. I think modern American soundtracks are generally not as good as Japanese ones. Too safe and too boring. Music is reduced to supporting, completely unable to sublimate. Now look at this paragraph, the murderer wearing sunglasses in the flowers really looks like a big bug waiting to be caught. The murderer, who was dehumanized by Kurosawa's play, didn't show his feelings until his sunglasses fell off when he was arrested.
I actually watched the comment track and found out that the murderer and the male protagonist had met on the street, sorry for Director Kurosawa. This arrangement is interesting. It was bland on the surface, and only the detective and the audience knew how dramatic it was.
Prince makes an interesting point in the commentary track, Kurosawa admires samurai culture and despises money-oriented modern capitalism, but the two are essentially the same, both are fighting for resources, and even samurai is bloodier. It's just that the samurai focused on aesthetics, art, and honor, and despised money.
Compared with the businessman in Kurosawa's early modern films, the image of the male protagonist is much better. Kurosawa has no sympathy for the murderer from the bottom, and believes that this kind of criminal who harms children must be eliminated, even if the police use means to increase his sentence is correct. Kurosawa once believed in Marxism when he was young. Is this the acne of intellectuals? You can see his relationship to the bottom. But then the idea should be different. In his early works, the protagonist would break out and clearly reveal social issues, but in "Heaven and Hell" he was relatively objective.
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