Akzidenz_Grotesk

I've never been impressed by Cocteau's films but I give him credit for having the energy to put his personal takes on myth and symbolism on film. Unfortunately, one really needs to be steeped in the various characters of Greek Myth to appreciate this one. The imagery is quite imaginative and the situations are sometimes funny but the whole never comes together. It's just one pointless existential tableau after another, which may be Cocteau's aim but it fails as substantial entertainment. The various contemporary celebrities that have cameos do little and add little to the film.

I can really only recommend this film to those who want to learn about Cocteau's film style or those who like to see the Classic Greek myths used in a mid-20th century film medium. Otherwise, it's a jumble of confusing dialogue and imagery to be taken not so seriously.

It's the starkness and the banality of Ghetto life contrasting with the intense human dramas that make this film memorable.

The brutality of the Nazis and their obsession with statistics and order is well shown.

This is one of those films that only black and white photography has the power to portray effectively.

This film of the Ghetto Jews' grim reality of processing and subjugation is not something you will ever forget, with the Jewish characters' all to brief time on screen and individual their stories intensifying your pity of their fates.

A top rate drama from post-war Japan!

A family struggling to survive the toils of daily life is portrayed excellently. We get to see the effects of farming life and the family's scant opportunity for relief from such work.

Don't avoid it just because it's "in black and white" because you'd be missing out on one of the key films that form the solid base that all post-war Japanese cinema stands on. Technique and storytelling combine for a satisfying and truly human film without relying on the devices of obvious, heavy symbolism too often seen in quasi-religious dramatic films from this period.