Reviews:Scandal
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ALTERNATE SYNOPSIS:
A handsome, suave Toshiro Mifune lights up the screen as painter Ichiro, whose circumstantial meeting with a famous singer (Yoshiko Yamaguchi) is construed by the tabloid press as a torrid affair. When Ichiro files a lawsuit against the incriminating gossip magazine, he hires the ethically dubious lawyer Hiruta (Kurosawa stalwart Takashi Shimura)—who's playing both sides. A portrait of moral decline during Japan’s postwar reparations, Scandal is also a compelling courtroom drama and a tale of human redemption.
-Criterion Collection
| ALTERNATE SYNOPSIS: Akira Kurosawa's Scandal — as relevant now as when made — is a pointed attack on the rising power of the press and their practices in the newly-Americanised postwar Japan of 1950. Kurosawa was outraged by the gutter press' actions, where "personal privacy is never respected", and by how the public's voyeuristic tendency to delve deeper into the lives of celebrities only encouraged this disrespect. Stirred to broaden his film's scope, Kurosawa made the film a study of personal honour, one which highlights the need for ordinary individuals to speak out against injustice and corruption. On holiday in the snow-covered mountains, young painter Ichiro Aoye (Toshiro Mifune) has a chance meeting with the popular singer Miyako Saijo (Shirley Yamaguchi). After giving her a ride back to the hotel where they are both staying, Ichiro is photographed with Miyako by paparazzi. A magazine creates an exposé of their 'secret romance' based around this photograph, and the brooding Ichiro ignites a bitter and dirty libel case in order to restore their honour. Scandal stars many great Japanese actors of the time including Noriko Sengoku (Drunken Angel, Seven Samurai) and Takashi Shimura (Ikiru, Seven Samurai), who delivers one of his finest performances as the defence lawyer emotionally torn between right and wrong. Kurosawa's film stands as a fascinating one-man blast against the origins of press intrusion. |
ALTERNATE SYNOPSIS:
Ichiro is a young painter on holiday in the mountains. By chance he meets Miyako- a famous singer who is staying at the same hotel. Wanting privacy, Miyako is uncooperative with the press and soon a tabloid magazine falsely suggests a scandalous relationship between the singer and the young painter. When Ichiro sues, his lawyer accepts a bribe and the real scandal begins.
-Eastern Eye
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