“The Inheritance” is a film that benefits from its use of 2:40:1 and capturing more of the surroundings of its characters, the film also benefits from the performances of its cast and also clever writing. As the fourth film presented in the “Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System”, the film is probably the best of the four in terms of quality and storytelling. A fitting addition to this DVD set!
Image courtesy of © 1962 Shochiku Co., Ltd. © 2013 All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: The Inheritance (as part of the Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System)
YEAR OF FILM: 1962
DURATION: 108 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: Black and White, 2:40:1 Aspect Ratio, Monaural, Japanese with English subtitles
COMPANY: Janus Films/The Criterion Collection
RELEASED: April 16, 2013
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi
Based on the Novel by Norio Nanjo
Written by Koichi Inagaki
Music by Toru Takemitsu
Cinematography by Takashi Kawamata
Starring:
Toru Abe as Detective
Minoru Chiaki as Fujii Junichi
Jun Hamamura
Atsuko Kawaguchi as Mayumi
Yusuke Kawazu as Sadao
Keiko Kishi as Yasuko
Tatsuya Nakadai as Furukawa Kikuo
On his deathbed, a wealthy businessman announces that his fortune is to be split equally among his three illegitimate children, whose whereabouts are unknown. A bevy of lawyers and associates begin machinations to procure the money for themselves, resorting to the use of impostors and blackmail. Yet all are outwitted by the cunning of the man’s secretary (Keiko Kishi), in this entertaining condemnation of unchecked greed.
When it comes to Japanese cinema, when Masaki Kobayashi’s name comes up, one will remember the filmmaker for being a pacifist but taking on films that criticized his country’s social and political orders.
Best known for his trilogy of films titled “The Human Condition” (1959-1961), a trilogy on the effects of World War II on a Japanese pacifist and socialist, Kobayashi is also known for his films “Harakiri” (1962, which won the Jury Prize at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival) and “Kwaidan ” (1964, which won the Special Jury Prize at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival and received a “Best Foreign Language Film” Academy Award nomination).
But prior to these cinematic masterpiece, Kobayashi showed a rebellious side in his earlier films from the ’50s. To best showcase his earlier work, The Criterion Collection has put together four of his earlier films in an Eclipse Series set titled “Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System”.
Included are the following three films from the ’50s and one from the ’60s : “The Thick-Walled Room” (“Kabe atsuki heya”, 1953), “I Will Buy You” (“Anata Kaimasu”, 1956), “Black River” (“Kuroi kawa”, 1957) and “The Inheritance” (“Karami-Ai”, 1964).
With the previous three films included in the “Masaki Kobayashi Against the System” released in the 1950’s, “The Inheritance” was released in 1962 after Kobayashi’s hit film “The Human Condition”. Also, another major difference is this film was shot in 2:40:1 aspect ratio versus the standard 1:33:1.
“The Inheritance” begins with a woman named Yasuko (portrayed by Keiko Kishi) doing some shopping and runs into a man that she did not want to see.
Yasuko’s story begins with the introduction to the wealthy businessman (portrayed by So Yamamura) who finds out that he has only several months to live. Knowing that he is about to die, he plans out his will of who will get the inheritance. He knows that his young wife (portrayed by Misako Watanabe) will get a third but he also has three illegitimate children that need to be found.
He has not kept up with the whereabouts of the three children and no one knows about them. So, the search begins for these three illegitimate children as they would get a right to his inheritance. And as his lawyer tries to search for them, the businessman also has his secretary looking for them as well.
But when word of an inheritance begins catch the attention of various individuals, everyone starts to have their own personal interest of trying to get a piece of it.
But are any of these individuals entitled to the inheritance?
VIDEO:
“The Inheritance” is presented in black and white and the only film in the “Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System” DVD set to be featured in 2:40:1 aspect ratio. Of the four films featured in the DVD box set, “The Inheritance” does look the best. Better contrast when it comes to the gray and white and black levels are also good. Detail is much more evident and the picture quality is just looks better than Kobayashi’s films from the 50’s.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“The Inheritance” is presented in Japanese monaural with English subtitles. Dialogue is clear, Toru Takemitsu’s jazzy score sounds very good and I heard no significant clicks, pops or humming through the entire film.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Eclipse Series releases do not come with special features but included in the insert is a background on Kobayashi and the information about the film.
Watching “The Inheritance”, the four film included in the “Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System” DVD box set. You start to realize the underlying theme of capitalism and greed.
While created after his masterpiece “The Human Condition”, Masaki Kobayashi’s “The Inheritance” showcases the worst behavior of people and sometimes it happens after the death of a loved one (especially if that loved one had money).
While the story of people trying to get their cut from one’s will may seem banal, Kobayashi’s film is different as it showcases how one secretary was able to methodically plan her way to get into her boss’s will.
“The Inheritance” begins with a wealthy business man dying from cancer and trying to plan his will before he dies. What he knows is that his current wife will get a third from the will, but also wanting to give a third to his illegitimate children, the problem is that he doesn’t even know who his children are, nor has he been a part of their lives. But he sends his secretary Yasuko to find them.
Meanwhile, his lawyer and his staff know they want a cut from the will and try to find a way to get some of that money, as does the businessman’s young wife who tries to find a way to derail any finding of the illegitimate children, so she can get most of the money herself.
Suffice to say, a common theme from Kobayashi’s films are characters that are typically shady in their own right. But the performance from actress Keiko Kishi as the cool and collected secretary Yasuko was well-done, and to see how her character is able to plan her way of getting into the film was quite fascinating and the writing was clever.
Overall, “The Inheritance” is a film that benefits from its use of 2:40:1 and capturing more of the surroundings of its characters, the film also benefits from the performances of its cast and also clever writing. As the fourth film presented in the “Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System”, the film is probably the best of the four in terms of quality and storytelling. A fitting addition to this DVD set!