Illegitimate son Kôichi Nishi climbs to a high position within a Japanese corporation and marries the crippled daughter of company vice president Iwabuchi, only in order to seek justice for his father's suicide.
This is a powerful and interesting picture that Kurosawa has made -- a bit tedious and mawkish in the last reels, but exciting enough along the way to satisfy audiences that know the subject.
Nick Schager
Slant Magazine
January 09, 2006
A freestyle homage to Hamlet that does away with the costumed faithfulness of Kurosawa's other Shakespeare adaptations.
Kurosawa rather loaded the film on the side of social significance, while neglecting to capitalise on the noir aspects that underlie it. Even so, his use of the 'scope screen is masterly.
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk
March 18, 2006
Despite having been made more than 45 years ago and in a postwar Japanese setting, in the age of Enron, it may be more relevant than ever.
t is almost an anti-thriller, but viewers who are willing to steep themselves in the intricacies of Japanese ceremonies and the banal details of evil will find the experience highly rewarding.
Ed Park
Village Voice
June 19, 2008
Opening with a bravura wedding sequence and ending with a sycophantic bow to a replaced telephone receiver, the film has its longueurs, but Mifune's buttoned-down avenger is a compelling portrait of righteous obsession foundering on unpredictable reality.
