Don't get me wrong, I love movies that make you think, and I tend not to like the typical Hollywood over-budgeted garbage that's spewed out year after year after year. I've heard this movie praised over and over again, and being a newcomer to Kurosawa's film making, I was looking forward to a strange adventure into this man's mind. Unfortunately, what I found was a segment or two that was great in concept, sometimes beautifully filmed, but overall, surprisingly pretentious and poorly executed.
There are segments that seem to drag on forever without dialogue and others that spew what seems to be propaganda from the mouths of the actors. Personally, I don't mind films with slow pacing, and the segments that dragged, to me, were the more enjoyable than the ones full of propaganda. I'll clarify what I mean by "propaganda." It seems to me that the writing is far too overt. Yes, there are deep and important messages being told to us, but they're not subtle in the least. I felt like I was watching a couple of plays written at the high school level. Most of the characters stand still on screen while they talk, seemingly, directly to the audience about whatever moral or ethical dilemma the segment is addressing.
Still, if you like odd movies and some experimental film making, you should at least give this a rent. Unfortunately, I bought it and am unsatisfied with my purchase, but had I rented it for a couple dollars I would not have felt cheated. It's something to watch once, but the dialogue is painfully unnatural at times and ruins some great concepts with poor writing. It's not a classic, but it's not a complete failure in every aspect either.
There are segments that seem to drag on forever without dialogue and others that spew what seems to be propaganda from the mouths of the actors. Personally, I don't mind films with slow pacing, and the segments that dragged, to me, were the more enjoyable than the ones full of propaganda. I'll clarify what I mean by "propaganda." It seems to me that the writing is far too overt. Yes, there are deep and important messages being told to us, but they're not subtle in the least. I felt like I was watching a couple of plays written at the high school level. Most of the characters stand still on screen while they talk, seemingly, directly to the audience about whatever moral or ethical dilemma the segment is addressing.
Still, if you like odd movies and some experimental film making, you should at least give this a rent. Unfortunately, I bought it and am unsatisfied with my purchase, but had I rented it for a couple dollars I would not have felt cheated. It's something to watch once, but the dialogue is painfully unnatural at times and ruins some great concepts with poor writing. It's not a classic, but it's not a complete failure in every aspect either.