Donzoko (The Lower Depths) (1957)

80% of critics liked it
(5 reviews)
82% of users liked it
(1,941 ratings)

Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa transferred the setting of Maxim Gorky's play The Lower Depths from Imperial Russia to his own country's Edo Period--which, like Gorky's 19th-century setting, was an era of great cultural advances, offset by the miseries of those who weren't in the aristocracy.… More Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa transferred the setting of Maxim Gorky's play The Lower Depths from Imperial Russia to his own country's Edo Period--which, like Gorky's 19th-century setting, was an era of great cultural advances, offset by the miseries of those who weren't in the aristocracy. Kurosawa's film concentrates on Toshiro Mifune, playing a crooked gambler who falls in love with the sister (Kyoko Kagawa) of his cruel landlady (Isuzu Yamada). Herself carrying a torch for Mifune, the landlady exacts a roundabout revenge by killing her own husband and pinning the blame on the gambler. As the landlady descends into madness, those whom she has treated wretchedly laugh at her plight. Originally titled Donzoko, The Lower Depths was renamed Les Bas-Fonds for its French release--the same title bestowed upon Jean Renoir's 1937 adaptation of the Gorky play. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 2 hr. 5 min.
Directed By: Akira Kurosawa
Written By: Maxim Gorky, Akira Kurosawa
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1957 Wide
On DVD: Aug 10, 2004
Studio: Criterion Collection

Critic Reviews

Bosley Crowther, New York Times
This is the purpose of the picture, to make one suffer and sympathize with them. Kurosawa's darkly imagistic technique achieves this depressing aim.
Louis Proyect, rec.arts.movies.reviews
Bleak comedy about a virtual flophouse in Edo-period Japan based on Gorky's play. Top-flight ensemble performance.
Jake Euker, Filmcritic.com
For the first hour and fifteen minutes of the movie, we make only limited excursions out of the tenement, and it begins to feel as though we've moved in ourselves. Kurosawa may have intended this, but it doesn't make for very satisfying viewing.

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Featured Audience Ratings

Bruce B

This is part of the criterion collection, a early Black and White from Japan, with English subtitles, Kind of boring at first but as it plays out you can't help but to stay with it, about a houseful of beggars and lower lower class and there daily lives, Its worth 2 stars
danny d

really intersting film. a movie by kurosawa about poverty and the people who live in it. there are some very profound things in this film and i think it really helps one to understand an impoverished mind set. to see people living like this is troubling, and kurosawa did a great… More
really intersting film. a movie by kurosawa about poverty and the people who live in it. there are some very profound things in this film and i think it really helps one to understand an impoverished mind set. to see people living like this is troubling, and kurosawa did a great job with the diologue as usual. very similar to reniors version of the same story made 21 years earlier.
Gevvy S

Confusing at the beginning, but around the hour mark everything begins to make sense. It's a shame I have not read Maxim Gorky's story that this film is based off of, but I read that it is a faithful adaptation of the original material. This film is very dialogue driven and… More
Confusing at the beginning, but around the hour mark everything begins to make sense. It's a shame I have not read Maxim Gorky's story that this film is based off of, but I read that it is a faithful adaptation of the original material. This film is very dialogue driven and through language and words, morals and values of society are analyzed. Also very interesting because blunt truth-telling vs sugar coated lying are also explored in this film. Very dark and pessimistic, but also some funny moments between the drunks and layabouts in the film. Overall, it was a very strange and intriguing film, much like Kurosawa's earlier Russian adaptation The Idiot. This film had a unique setting and quirky characters, however, was hard to sit through at times. Competent performances and strong dialogue kept this movie from being rated any lower.