422. Kurosawa's most underrated (or underappreciated) film

What a great thread!

I will not be modest. I consider myself to be somewhat of an AK expert (start here), but you are asking a very specific – and personal – question here. Let's go one through thirty:

1) Sanshiro Sugata (1943). Has to be a candidate, if for no other reason than this is a “debut.” Despite the brutalization of the film by both government censors, this is a fantastic piece of work. Check out the very opening scene and the way he “paints” the scene by dropping the camera down to eye level with all sorts of gorgeous contrary motion.

2) The Most Beautiful (1944). Ah … no.

3) Sanshiro Sugata, Part Two (1945). Ah … again, no.

4) Those Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945). A definite candidate. Enoken's hilarious performance kicks this potential bore-fest into high gear at all times. And then there's the “did Togashi let them go on purpose?” debate.

5) No Regrets for Our Youth (1946). Great choice. Many great scenes. Three: 1) near the beginning when Yukie imitates the passing farmers by pantomiming carrying a basket on her head (parallel the end when she becomes a farmer); 2) the “you have to take responsibility for your actions” scene between the Professor & Yukie in her room, while Mom cries outside the door; and 3) the heartbreaking scene between Yukie & Itokawa at the end.

6) One Wonderful Sunday (1947). Another obvious pick. AK is confident: he allows great chunks of no-dialogue sandwiched between all the running around. The baseball scene is fantastic.

7) Drunken Angel (1948). A masterpiece. Cannot possibly be considered “underrated.”

8) The Quiet Duel (1949). Apart from that brilliant opening, it sags and lags.

9) Stray Dog (1949). Great pick. How can Richie possibly have been unenthusiastic about the no-dialogue (8:48) scene with Mifune (and Honda's feet!) roaming through run-down, post-war Tokyo? You can feel the sticky, stifling humidity, with the soundtrack blaring distorted 40's American cabaret music.

10) Scandal (1950). See below.

11) Rashômon (1950). Not underrated.

12) The Idiot (1951). Underrated, but deservedly so. It's a hot mess. Not his fault.

13) Ikiru (1952). Ah, no. Quite rated. Nothing “under” about it!

14) Seven Samurai (1954). We can skip this one.

15) I Live in Fear (1955). Ian's pick. A good one. Definitely one of Mifune's greatest performances in astonishingly perfect makeup. But watch his movement. He looks ancient. The scenes between him and Shimura are priceless.

16) Throne of Blood (1957). I think we can agree this is a classic.

17) The Lower Depths (1957). This one might be well-considered to be underrated and underappreciated. An ensemble piece with absolutely extraordinary acting by all. The final (musical) scene is one of AK's best, ever!

18) Hidden Fortress (1958). We might call it underrated if only for his magical use of (for him) new widescreen technology. He uses it as if he'd been doing it for years.

19) The Bad Sleep Well (1960). I'm not sure if that many people have seen this one. It's definitely a masterpiece. I just showed it to some friends & family who weren't that familiar with AK, and it KNOCKED THEIR SOCKS OFF.

20) Yojimbo (1961). Not by a long shot.

21) Sanjûrô (1962). OTOH, not as many folks have seen this. So many wonderful moments (Sanjûrô).

22) High and Low (1963). Perhaps not as popular as his other big hits. Another masterpiece.

23) Red Beard (1965). I see a lot of votes for this. Perhaps the 185-minute runtime has kept folks away. A major masterpiece!

24) Dodeskuden (1970). Rated just right, I think. It's no masterpiece, but is nevertheless a very important film -- first one in color and completely different than the preceding twenty-three.

25) Dersu Uzala (1975). I'd say so. First he tries to kill himself (1971); then he nearly killed himself again making this film. It is magnificent and deserves to be seen by any Kurosawa fan. I love the opening super: "1910" -- the year of his birth!

26) Kagemusha (1980). Yes, yes, yes. I wish I had a yen for every time I've heard or read someone say that this was just a "run-through" for Ran. What a canard! He basically painted the entire movie before there was any film in the camera. After the somber opening, the soldier-messenger (tsukaiban) flies down the castle steps, while the brilliant composer, Ikebe, uses clarinet arpeggios to mimic the feeling of this "swift-as-the-wind" movement. I am one who believes we are actually fortunate that Nakadai replaced Zatoichi here ...

27) Ran (1985). Neither underrated nor underappreciated.

28) Dreams (1990). Dream on.

29) Rhapsody in August (1991). Not that underrated. It's in the bottom ten, imho, although Sachiko Murase (86-years-old) is magnificent!

30) Madadayo (1993). Glad to see this get some votes. Well-made, and as emotional as anything previously produced. Hisashi Igawa is a little wooden here for my taste, but we all play hide-and-seek when we watch a Kurosawa film ...

**

So, my vote goes to:

Scandal (1950) -- the very first Kurosawa film I ever saw, on TCM in 1999. It changed my life -- yes, I admit, mostly because it got me interested enough to see the other 29 -- but I remember being absolutely captivated by the drama.

Richie claims that Shimura "steals" the picture from Mifune in the second half -- but, so what? The "old man, life can be so touching at times ... glittering stars amid all this reeking slime" gets me every time.

And finally, this film contains the only SPIRAL WIPE in the entire oeuvre.