Scandal (1950)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Scandal (1950) – A. Kurosawa

Kurosawa brings his kinetic style to this still-current look at celebrities suing a magazine for some slanderous paparazzi photos.  It may be in bad taste to attack the media these days, but let’s face it, our journalists come in all shapes and sizes, from the most scrupulous to those willing to print unfounded gossip and, yes, “alternative facts”.  Toshiro Mifune (playing an artist) and Shirley Yamaguchi (playing a singer) are photographed at a spa after an accidental meeting and a magazine (“Amour”) plays this up into a love affair and scandal.  When they decide to sue, a lawyer (played by the great Takashi Shimura) pleads to take their case because of his heightened sense of justice.  However, he proves spineless and easily manipulated by the (evil) publisher.  Nevertheless, Mifune and Yamaguchi stick with him out of concern for his dying daughter (she has tuberculosis).   For a while, I thought this would be up there with Kurosawa’s best but the courtroom scenes allow some of the tension to dissipate.  Moreover, it is my problem but I couldn’t accept Shimura in this worm-like role after his sympathetic performances in Ikiru, Seven Samurai, and Stray Dog.  Still, there is much to enjoy here (particularly the style – and Mifune on that motorcycle!).