The Lower Depths

The Lower Depths

1957 · 125 min · ★ 7.1 · Drama

Residents of a rundown boardinghouse in 19th-century Japan, including a mysterious old man and an aging actor, get drawn into a love triangle that turns violent. When amoral thief Sutekichi breaks off his affair with landlady Osugi to romance her younger sister, Okayo, Osugi extracts her revenge by revealing her infidelity to her jealous husband.

Directed by Akira Kurosawa · Written by Akira Kurosawa

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Streaming

Criterion Channel

Cast

Make it a double feature

5h 32m together

The Lower Depths

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.
Dersu UzalaDersu Uzala · 1975
Dersu Uzala
★ 7.91975
MovieAdventureDrama
A military explorer meets and befriends a Goldi man in Russia’s unmapped forests. A deep and abiding bond evolves between the two men, one civilized in the usual sense, the other at home in the glacial Siberian woods.
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.
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

Escape from AlcatrazEscape from Alcatraz · 1979
Escape from Alcatraz
★ 7.51979
MovieDramaThriller
San Francisco Bay, January 18, 1960. Frank Lee Morris is transferred to Alcatraz, a maximum security prison located on a rocky island. Although no one has ever managed to escape from there, Frank and other inmates begin to carefully prepare an escape plan.
The Thing from Another WorldThe Thing from Another World · 1951
The Thing from Another World
★ 6.71951
MovieDramaHorror
Scientists and US Air Force officials fend off a blood-thirsty alien organism while investigating at a remote arctic outpost.
Tell No OneTell No One · 2006
Tell No One
★ 7.22006
MovieDramaThriller
A man receives a mysterious email appearing to be from his wife, who was murdered years earlier. As he frantically tries to find out whether she's alive, he finds himself being implicated in her death.
The HustlerThe Hustler · 1961
The Hustler
★ 7.71961
MovieDramaRomance
Fast Eddie Felson is a small-time pool hustler with a lot of talent but a self-destructive attitude. His bravado causes him to challenge the legendary Minnesota Fats to a high-stakes match.
The Man Who Fell to EarthThe Man Who Fell to Earth · 1976
The Man Who Fell to Earth
★ 6.51976
MovieScience FictionDrama
Thomas Jerome Newton is an alien who has come to Earth in search of water to save his home planet. Aided by lawyer Oliver Farnsworth, Thomas uses his knowledge of advanced technology to create profitable inventions. While developing a method to transport water, Thomas meets Mary-Lou, a quiet hotel clerk, and begins to fall in love with her. Just as he is ready to leave Earth, Thomas is intercepted by the U.S. government, and his entire plan is threatened.
Straw DogsStraw Dogs · 1971
Straw Dogs
★ 7.11971
MovieThrillerDrama
David Sumner, a mild-mannered academic from the United States, marries Amy, an Englishwoman. In order to escape a hectic stateside lifestyle, David and his wife relocate to the small town in rural Cornwall where Amy was raised. There, David is ostracized by the brutish men of the village, including Amy's old flame, Charlie. Eventually the taunts escalate.
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.
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 Talented Mr. RipleyThe Talented Mr. Ripley · 1999
The Talented Mr. Ripley
★ 7.21999
MovieThrillerCrime
Tom Ripley is a calculating young man who believes it's better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody. Opportunity knocks in the form of a wealthy U.S. shipbuilder who hires Tom to travel to Italy to bring back his playboy son, Dickie. Ripley worms his way into the idyllic lives of Dickie and his girlfriend, plunging into a daring scheme of duplicity, lies and murder.
Letters from Iwo JimaLetters from Iwo Jima · 2006
Letters from Iwo Jima
★ 7.52006
MovieActionDrama
The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.
American PsychoAmerican Psycho · 2000
American Psycho
★ 7.42000
MovieThrillerDrama
A wealthy New York investment banking executive hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he escalates deeper into his illogical, gratuitous fantasies.
Nickel BoysNickel Boys · 2024
Nickel Boys
★ 6.62024
MovieDramaHistory
Chronicles the powerful friendship between two young Black teenagers navigating the harrowing trials of reform school together in Florida.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter