The Idiot

7.019512h 46mReleased

Drama

Romance

Overview

A gentle, war-shattered ex-soldier, Kinji Kameda, arrives in wintry Hokkaidō and is pulled into a volatile tangle of love and pity between the disgraced Taeko Nasu, the proud Ayako, and his possessive friend Akama. Kameda’s saintly compassion exposes everyone’s wounds, steering the quartet toward jealousy, violence, and inexorable tragedy. Adapted from Dostoevsky’s novel.

StatusReleased

Release Date1951-05-23

Runtime2h 46m

Languages日本語

CountriesJapan

Keywords

Stream

Criterion Channel

US data via JustWatch

Cast & Crew

Setsuko Hara

as Taeko Nasu

Masayuki Mori

as Kinji Kameda

Toshirō Mifune

as Denkichi Akama

Yoshiko Kuga

as Ayako

Takashi Shimura

as Ono, Ayako's father

Chieko Higashiyama

as Satoko, Ayako's mother

Eijirō Yanagi

as Tohata

Minoru Chiaki

as Mutsuo Kayama, the secretary

Noriko Sengoku

as Takako

Kokuten Kōdō

as Junpei

Reviews

CinemaSerf

Feb 12, 2023

7/10

"Kameda" (Masayuki Mori) is a Japanese soldier suffering from what looks like a degree of PTSD after he only narrowly escaped a firing squad for a crime he did not commit in his country's war with Russia. His mental status is distinctly precarious when he heads home. Along the way he encounters the savvy "Akama" (an on-form Toshirô Mifune) who is a…

Full review