I Live in Fear

I Live in Fear

1955 · 103 min · ★ 7.3 · Drama

An aging foundry patriarch, gripped by terror of nuclear annihilation, tries to uproot his family to Brazil. When they petition to have him declared incompetent, a family-court counselor witnesses his obsession slide into ruin—and asks whether ignoring the atomic threat is any saner.

Directed by Akira Kurosawa · Written by Hideo Oguni

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Streaming

Criterion Channel

Cast

Make it a double feature

5h 10m together

I Live in Fear

Seven Samurai

Both from Akira Kurosawa.

More from Akira KurosawaSee all →

Seven SamuraiSeven Samurai · 1954
Seven Samurai
★ 8.51954
MovieActionDrama
A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food.
High and LowHigh and Low · 1963
High and Low
★ 8.41963
MovieDramaCrime
A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.
IkiruIkiru · 1952
Ikiru
★ 8.31952
MovieDrama
Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.
Red BeardRed Beard · 1965
Red Beard
★ 8.21965
MovieDrama
Aspiring to an easy job as personal physician to a wealthy family, Noboru Yasumoto is disappointed when his first post after medical school takes him to a small country clinic under the gruff doctor Red Beard. Yasumoto rebels in numerous ways, but Red Beard proves a wise and patient teacher. He gradually introduces his student to the unglamorous side of the profession, ultimately assigning him to care for a prostitute rescued from a local brothel.
YojimboYojimbo · 1961
Yojimbo
★ 8.11961
MovieDramaThriller
A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon and sake merchant Tokuemon to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.
RanRan · 1985
Ran
★ 8.01985
MovieActionDrama
Shakespeare's King Lear is reimagined as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan where an aging warlord divides his kingdom between his three sons.
RashomonRashomon · 1950
Rashomon
★ 8.01950
MovieCrimeDrama
Four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.
The Hidden FortressThe Hidden Fortress · 1958
The Hidden Fortress
★ 8.01958
MovieDramaAction
In feudal Japan, during a bloody war between clans, two cowardly and greedy peasants, soldiers of a defeated army, stumble upon a mysterious man who guides them to a fortress hidden in the mountains.
Throne of BloodThrone of Blood · 1957
Throne of Blood
★ 7.91957
MovieDramaHistory
Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the spirit's prophecy comes true, Washizu's scheming wife, Asaji, presses him to speed up the rest of the spirit's prophecy by murdering his lord and usurping his place. Director Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan is one of his most acclaimed films.
A Fistful of DollarsA Fistful of Dollars · 1964
A Fistful of Dollars
★ 7.81964
MovieWestern
The Man With No Name enters the Mexican village of San Miguel in the midst of a power struggle among the three Rojo brothers and sheriff John Baxter. When a regiment of Mexican soldiers bearing gold intended to pay for new weapons is waylaid by the Rojo brothers, the stranger inserts himself into the middle of the long-simmering battle, selling false information to both sides for his own benefit.
KagemushaKagemusha · 1980
Kagemusha
★ 7.81980
MovieActionDrama
A feudal epic presenting the tale of a petty thief who is recruited to impersonate Shingen, an aging warlord, in order to avoid attacks by competing clans. The impostor becomes comfortable living his life among nobility, but his responsibilities to his station grow more demanding the longer he occupies it.
DreamsDreams · 1990
Dreams
★ 7.71990
MovieFantasyDrama
Eight visually rich vignettes drawn from Kurosawa’s own dreams—fox weddings and vanished orchards, a soldier’s ghosts, a walk through Van Gogh’s canvases, nuclear nightmares, and a water-mill utopia—meditate on childhood, art, mortality, and humanity’s uneasy bond with nature.
Stray DogStray Dog · 1949
Stray Dog
★ 7.61949
MovieCrimeDrama
A bad day gets worse for young detective Murakami when a pickpocket steals his gun on a hot, crowded bus. Desperate to right the wrong, he goes undercover, scavenging Tokyo’s sweltering streets for the stray dog whose desperation has led him to a life of crime. With each step, cop and criminal’s lives become more intertwined and the investigation becomes an examination of Murakami’s own dark side.
Drunken AngelDrunken Angel · 1948
Drunken Angel
★ 7.61948
MovieDrama
In postwar Tokyo, a blunt, alcohol-soaked doctor diagnoses a swaggering young yakuza with tuberculosis, forging an uneasy bond that’s tested when the gangster’s ruthless former boss returns and drags him back toward the swampy underworld he can’t escape.
The Magnificent SevenThe Magnificent Seven · 1960
The Magnificent Seven
★ 7.51960
MovieWestern
An oppressed Mexican peasant village hires seven gunfighters to help defend their homes.
Kaze no YojimboKaze no Yojimbo · 2001
Kaze no Yojimbo
★ 7.42001
SeriesDramaAnimation
George Kodama is investigating an incident that occurred in the small town of Kimujuku over 15 years ago. George is soon caught up in the middle of a bloody gang fight for control of the town.

More Like This

Heavenly CreaturesHeavenly Creatures · 1994
Heavenly Creatures
★ 7.01994
MovieDramaFantasy
Precocious teenager Juliet moves to New Zealand with her family and soon befriends the quiet, brooding Pauline through their shared love of fantasy and literature. This friendship gradually develops into an intense and obsessive bond.
Arlington RoadArlington Road · 1999
Arlington Road
★ 7.01999
MovieCrimeDrama
Bedraggled college professor Michael Faraday has been vexed — and increasingly paranoid — since his wife's accidental death in a botched FBI operation. When a seemingly all-American couple set up house next door, Michael begins to suspect there’s more to them than meets the eye.
The PrestigeThe Prestige · 2006
The Prestige
★ 8.22006
MovieDramaMystery
A mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy -- full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences.
The Devil's AdvocateThe Devil's Advocate · 1997
The Devil's Advocate
★ 7.51997
MovieHorrorDrama
Aspiring Florida defense lawyer Kevin Lomax accepts a job at a New York law firm. With the stakes getting higher every case, Kevin quickly learns that his boss has something far more evil planned.
Don Juan DeMarcoDon Juan DeMarco · 1994
Don Juan DeMarco
★ 6.81994
MovieRomanceDrama
John Arnold DeMarco is a man who believes he is Don Juan, the greatest lover in the world. Clad in a cape and mask, DeMarco undergoes psychiatric treatment with Dr. Jack Mickler to cure him of his apparent delusion. But the psychiatric sessions have an unexpected effect on the psychiatric staff and, most profoundly, Dr Mickler, who rekindles the romance in his complacent marriage.
The Elephant ManThe Elephant Man · 1980
The Elephant Man
★ 8.01980
MovieDramaHistory
A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man being mistreated by his "owner" as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of great intelligence and sensitivity.
Open Your EyesOpen Your Eyes · 1997
Open Your Eyes
★ 7.51997
MovieDramaThriller
Handsome 25-year-old Cesar had it all -- a successful career, expensive cars, a swank bachelor's pad, and an endless string of beautiful and willing women -- until he is thrown into a strange psychological mystery after a car accident scars his face and lands him in prison.
LauraLaura · 1944
Laura
★ 7.61944
MovieDramaMystery
A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he's investigating.
Fear and Loathing in Las VegasFear and Loathing in Las Vegas · 1998
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
★ 7.21998
MovieAdventureDrama
Raoul Duke and his attorney Dr. Gonzo drive a red convertible across the Mojave desert to Las Vegas with a suitcase full of drugs to cover a motorcycle race. As their consumption of drugs increases at an alarming rate, the stoned duo trash their hotel room and fear legal repercussions. Duke begins to drive back to L.A., but after an odd run-in with a cop, he returns to Sin City and continues his wild drug binge.
Jacob's LadderJacob's Ladder · 1990
Jacob's Ladder
★ 7.41990
MovieDramaMystery
After returning home from the Vietnam War, veteran Jacob Singer struggles to maintain his sanity. Plagued by hallucinations and flashbacks, Singer rapidly falls apart as the world and people around him morph and twist into disturbing images. His girlfriend, Jezzie, and ex-wife, Sarah, try to help, but to little avail. Even Singer's chiropractor friend, Louis, fails to reach him as he descends into madness.
The Mothman PropheciesThe Mothman Prophecies · 2002
The Mothman Prophecies
★ 6.22002
MovieDramaHorror
Reporter John Klein is plunged into a world of impossible terror when fate draws him to the sleepy West Virginia town of Point Pleasant, whose residents are being visited by a great winged shape that sows hideous nightmares and fevered visions.
The TrialThe Trial · 1962
The Trial
★ 7.41962
MovieCrimeDrama
Arrested for an unnamed crime, Josef K. is trapped in a surreal bureaucratic maze where justice is unknowable and guilt is assumed.
The Karate Kid Part IIThe Karate Kid Part II · 1986
The Karate Kid Part II
★ 6.41986
MovieAdventureDrama
Summoned by his dying father, Miyagi returns to his homeland of Okinawa, with Daniel, after a 40-year exile. There he must confront Yukie, the love of his youth, and Sato, his former best friend turned vengeful rival. Sato is bent on a fight to the death, even if it means the destruction of their village. Daniel finds his own love in Yukia's niece, Kumiko, and his own enemy in Sato's nephew, the vicious Chozen. Now, far away from the tournaments, cheering crowds and safety of home, Daniel will face his greatest challenge ever when the cost of honor is life itself.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter