This film is currently unavailable
The Lower Depths
Akira Kurosawa’s adaptation of Maxim Gorky’s novel, in which inhabitants of a slum revel in illusions to avoid bitter reality.
Drama 1957 125 mins
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Overview
Akira Kurosawa’s adaptation of Maxim Gorky’s novel (previously filmed by Jean Renoir), in which the inhabitants of a slum while away their time longing for escape or dreaming of a better life. The Lower Depths a brilliant exploration (no less than Rashomon) of the conflict between the comfort of illusion and bitter reality.
Distinguished by its sobriety, its pathos, and by the theatrical brilliance of its presentation, the film is also one of the finest examples of ensemble acting in Japanese cinema.
Related
Drama
T11 Incomplete T11 Incomplete
Drama 2020 104 mins Director: Suzanne Guacci
Past mistakes haunt the present and threaten a new love affair between an older woman and her patient in this compelling melodrama.
A Dog Barking at the Moon A Dog Barking at the Moon
Drama 2019 108 mins Director: Lisa Zi Xiang
This impressive dissection of one Chinese family’s imperfect life gradually reveals discomforting secrets.
Don't Look Down Don't Look Down
Drama 2019 89 mins Director: Olivier Ducastel
Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau (directors of Théo and Hugo), serve up a deliciously enigmatic chamber piece.
La Grande Bouffe La Grande Bouffe
Comedy 1973 130 mins Director: Marco Ferreri
Marco Ferreri's provocative and controversial satire about four friends who retreat to a country mansion with the intention of eating themselves to death.
Stud Life Stud Life
Drama 2012 87 mins Director: Campbell X
Campbell X's debut feature is a sexy, young and cool gay romance taking a unique look at a slice of British urban life.
XXY XXY
Drama 2007 91 mins Director: Lucía Puenzo
A sensitive exploration of the sexual awakening and confusion of one intersex teenager.
Japanese Classics
Throne of Blood Throne of Blood
Drama 1957 110 mins Director: Akira Kurosawa
A master of period-drama, Kurosawa (Rashomon, Seven Samurai) recasts Macbeth as a Japanese warlord in one of the greatest Shakespearean adaptations.
Dodes'Ka-Den Dodes'Ka-Den
Drama 1970 140 mins Director: Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa’s first colour film is an eccentric and joyous account of a group of disparate people living in a city dump.
Godzilla Godzilla
Horror 1954 92 mins Director: Ishiro Honda
The original Godzilla - arguably the definitive monster movie - both a bold metaphor for the atomic age and a thrilling powerhouse of pioneering special effects.
Floating Clouds Floating Clouds
Drama 1955 123 mins Director: Mikio Naruse
Mikio Naruse’s masterpiece about a wandering woman trying to find her identity amid the devastation of post-war Japan.
Onibaba Onibaba
Period drama 1964 102 mins Director: Kaneto Shindo
Stylish, symbolic and erotically charged Japanese horror in which the fortunes of a murderous mother-and-daughter team are upended by a strangely masked samurai.
Floating Weeds Floating Weeds
Drama 1959 119 mins Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Yasujiro Ozu's late-career, elegiac masterpiece about a travelling kabuki troupe that returns to the seaside town they visited years before.
Featuring Toshiro Mifune
Rashomon Rashomon
Crime 1950 88 mins Director: Akira Kurosawa
Credited with bringing Japanese cinema to worldwide audiences, Akira Kurosawa’s breakthrough tells the story of a murder in the woods from four differing perspectives.
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Rashomon Rashomon
Crime 1950 88 mins Director: Akira Kurosawa
Credited with bringing Japanese cinema to worldwide audiences, Akira Kurosawa’s breakthrough tells the story of a murder in the woods from four differing perspectives.
New
T11 Incomplete T11 Incomplete
Drama 2020 104 mins Director: Suzanne Guacci
Past mistakes haunt the present and threaten a new love affair between an older woman and her patient in this compelling melodrama.
Disclosure Disclosure
Documentary 2020 107 mins Director: Sam Feder
A well-timed and thrilling analysis of the history of transgender stories on screen, from the silent era to the present day.
A Dog Barking at the Moon A Dog Barking at the Moon
Drama 2019 108 mins Director: Lisa Zi Xiang
This impressive dissection of one Chinese family’s imperfect life gradually reveals discomforting secrets.
Ask Any Buddy Ask Any Buddy
Documentary 2020 78 mins Director: Evan Purchell
This lovingly edited compilation of erotic gay film is the nearest you’ll get to experiencing queer life in the glory days between 1968 and 1986.
Don't Look Down Don't Look Down
Drama 2019 89 mins Director: Olivier Ducastel
Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau (directors of Théo and Hugo), serve up a deliciously enigmatic chamber piece.
Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story
Documentary 2019 60 mins Director: Posy Dixon
After his 1986 album Keyboard Fantasies is rediscovered, a black trans musician recounts his life, from the lonely 1960s to the joy of witnessing the present.