Karami-ai

Tatsuya Nakadai is dying of stomach cancer. One third of his estate of 300 million yen must go to his wife, but he wants the rest to go to his three illegitimate children. As his lawyers and associates gather to figure out how to steal the money, only his quiet, loyal secretary, Keiko Kishi, seems to be on his side. Seems.

Masaki Kobayashi movie of greed and lies might be a very dry, black comedy, or it might be a story of greed and corruption impure and simple. The sum of money would have been worth $1.5 million in 1962, the equivalent of $13 today. That's a lot of incentive for greed. All of the characters except Miss Kishi are open and honest about their greed when not in Nakadai's presence. Miss Kishi gives a veautiful, guarded performance.

I don't envy Kobayashi Masaki. Having made some utterly stellar films in his career, his other works will necessarily be judged against them, at least in part. Thankfully, though, 1962's 'The inheritance' plainly demonstrates what a strong filmmaker the man was even outside of his most celebrated pictures. The premise isn't so outwardly striking, yet the drama is increasingly fierce, taking on significant airs of film-noir; as dying wealthy businessman Kawara Senzo prepares his will and seeks his illegitimate children, schemes upon schemes take root and all involved parties reveal their true selves. In no time the viewing experience becomes deeply absorbing and outright fascinating, and even if it's not an outright revelation in the same manner as 'Harakiri' or 'Samurai rebellion,' ultimately I'd have no qualms in naming this as one of Kobayashi's resounding successes.

Working from Nanjo Norio's novel, screenwriter Inagaki Koichi penned an outstanding screenplay that's rich and downright intoxicating from top to bottom. However characters might first present they show themselves to be not just complex and vibrant as written but roundly, willfully scurrilous in their own ways, usually while adopting a thin facade of innocence or propriety. Each in and of themselves is so interesting that this rather becomes worth watching just for them, and that's to say nothing of the rest of the writing, equally flush with ingenious subtlety as events progress. The dialogue is stark and biting, driving to the core of the characterizations and the plot, and each scene in turn bears a wondrous vitality with deliciously thick, underhanded tension and cutting intelligence. The narrative itself is so brilliant and spellbinding that this became another relatively rare instance of a movie I could not tear my eyes away from - and though it's mostly just on account of how raptly compelling the saga is in its own right, the precise fashion in which information comes out and events unfold is a masterstroke that left me giddily smiling again and again.

All this is very much a credit as well to the cast. Splendid nuance in the acting belies the cold shrewdness and less sure-footed emotions at play, a tactfulness expressiveness that feeds directly into the deceit and trickery on hand in the plot. It hardly even seems fair to highlight some stars over others, though Kishi Keiko is terrific in the lead role of Yasuko (I couldn't help but cheer her at a small moment in the last minutes), and even as Yamamura So's part as Kawara is more restrictive he commands imposing presence and temperament. This is to say nothing of Watanabe Misako, Nakadai Tatsuya, Yoshimura Mari, Miyaguchia Seiji, Chiaki Minoru, or the many others on hand. As Kobayasha guides his actors and shapes the whole as director, he sustains a ferocious energy that builds alongside the story, a sort of intensity that draws us in all the more. His jidaigeki of the 60s in particular thoroughly accentuated the patient mindfulness that Kobayashi bore as a filmmaker, letting pressure grow until the ideal psychological moment for the feature to explode - and though 'The inheritance' isn't so grandiose, the outcome is pretty much just as invigorating.

Composer extraordinaire Takemitsu Toru lends a marvelously flavorful score that meshes neatly with the seedy goings-on of the story, and I can scarcely imagine this without that music. Everything else here is really just as fantastic, from the costume design, hair, and makeup, to the sets, to Kawamata Takashi's smart cinematography and Uraoka Keiichi's keen editing. It's Inagaki's script that really shines here, however, hand in hand with the acting and Kobayashi's direction, and one way or another the end result is a title that's as darkly entertaining as it is tremendously engrossing. As I go through Kobayashi's oeuvre it's safe to say that I have high expectations, and though not all his productions are equal, I'm firmly of the mind that this is altogether excellent and easily counts among his best. Whether one has a specific reason to watch or is just looking for something good to watch, I can hardly recommend 'The inheritance' any more highly. As an avid cinephile this was simply a joy, and this is one picture that's well worth seeking out!

Beside the fact that it has the beautiful and talented Keiko Kishi in it, this is an excellent movie. The twists and turns will keep you wondering. There is so much deceit going on! I cannot tell you the end, but, I was guessing along the way and still couldn't get it (the ending) until the last few minutes.

I further suggest "Ten Dark Women" if you want even more entertainment.

A hugely satisfying noirish morality-play, THE INHERITANCE follows the succession proceedings of a nasty industrialist's estate when he's diagnosed with terminal cancer. Locking horns over this potential fortune are: scheming subordinates, his trophy-wife, a femme-fatale of a secretary and a battery of illegitimate heirs. In their quest to secure a bigger slice of the pie, we witness them forming suspicious alliances and ruthlessly resorting to impersonation, fraud, blackmail and even murder. It's so callously cynical in its outlook that a couple's implied incest is broached as "remember when" and then immediately dismissed to concentrate on the central deception. What's refreshing and what further augments the plot's universality is that instead of conveniently blaming the capitalist mentality, Kobayashi indicts human greed (sexual and material) - as the primary cause of moral decay. Though less flamboyant than his sadistic gangster turn in BLACK RIVER - Tatsuya Nakadai plays another ethically unsavory character who's tasked with locating one of his client's unacknowledged daughters. In addition to its themes and characters, the film's noir credentials are further bolstered by a wonderfully moody jazz score and narrative voice-over.

The suspense is for finding the answer to "Who's going to grab the inheritance?" Who will succeed? And how? As in a good Agatha Christie novel, we witness a parade of characters that, yes, want the money. And money... changes everything. Intrigue and double-crossing plans, jazz music, femme fatales that start to appear everywhere and a spectacular visual film in high contrast low-key lighting (pure chiaroscuro) within unbalanced frames that take the most of a full 2.40:1 aspect ratio.

Kobayashi is one of the finest directors, perhaps very underrated. A few months later he would shoot "Harakiri". He knew his craft. This is a solid film to enjoy.