I was really just along for the ride on this one, and it was fun ride. Dustin Hoffman is so damn good and there are so many scenes that were stressful, intense, and shrouded in a lot of mystery. Both the story and cinematography felt heavily inspired by Melville, but maybe with a more driving narrative and more sympathetic character, which is interesting because this has to be one of the last neo-noir films made.
This is lowkey one of the coldest posters on Letterboxd.
I think all the themes Bong Joon Ho wanted to explore in this movie are great themes to individually explore, but there were just too many themes he was trying to combine. Somehow the movie wanted it to be about overcoming guilt but that seemed to randomly come and go. I think he should have gone way further into the philosophical conundrum of the multiples, as that was definitely the most unique (and interesting) theme he had, especially because Robert Pattinson…
One of the greatest viewing experiences ever released on film. An absolute pleasure to watch. A story with flawless pacing, amazing acting, and a strong philosophy. The restored black and white is so fabulous, with such visual range and deep saturations, it made every scene Kobayashi captured that much more eye-popping. A unique style where the placement of people created such wonderful visuals. All this to culminate in one of the greatest third acts I've seen.
As much as I love Ikiru, crime will always be my favorite Kurosawa genre. He is able to build so much suspense and weave together such intricate stories, even when they are based on such old texts. Being able to learn about his past, Japan's past, and how they intertwined to inspire such compelling, thrilling, and compassionate leftist tales was incredibly rewarding.
I think most interesting of Nishi's character is that he refused to take advantage of Yoshiko. That even…
