The Lower Depths
1957 · 125 min
Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Written by Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Maxim Gorky. Starring Toshirō Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Kyōko Kagawa, Ganjirō Nakamura II.
Residents of a rundown boardinghouse in 19th-century Japan, including a mysterious old man and an aging actor, get drawn into a love triangle that turns violent. When amoral thief Sutekichi breaks off his affair with landlady Osugi to romance her younger sister, Okayo, Osugi extracts her revenge by revealing her infidelity to her jealous husband.
Critics 83% · audiences 79% · streaming on Criterion Channel