Viewed on DVD. Restoration = nine (9) stars. What to do if you fear imminent nuclear annihilation and have no interest in sharing an underground bomb shelter with your extended family? This film offers up an alternative "solution" which is no longer an option today. An above average "modern" Kurosawa movie with a solid script (Kurosawa is but one of four credited writers which seems to have held in check his tendency to write silliness into scripts) and taught direction (and editing). Large ensemble of actors provides an across-the-board set of believable characters with which the viewer can easily bond. Toshiro Mifune delivers an outstanding performance that is so unusual and atypical that viewers might want to double check the opening credits to ensure that Mifune is, indeed, the lead actor! Dialog is crisp and clearly enunciated by all performers except Mifune who delivers his characteristic mumbling staccato barks. Intentionally or not, the film depicts dental hygiene as being essentially nonexistent at the time. Of special interest are Tokyo street scenes circa 1954 shown under the opening credits. (All the men seem to be in shirtsleeves on the streets, but not in the film.) Cinematography is fine as are the subtitles (they are most needed when Mifune is speaking). Music consists of two stunning theremin micro concerts during the opening and closing credits (and a bit beyond). Restoration is outstanding except for a few wear lines here and there. The movie comes from the past, but is especially relevant, since the fear remains ever present and continues into the future. WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.

J. Robert Oppenheimer, from the book of his collected lectures (ATOMIC ENERGY AS A CONTEMPORARY PROBLEM): "There are examinations which are given with open books, because all the answers are not to be found in books. The field of atomic energy is an open-book examination." Ditto, Akira Kurosawa's I LIVE IN FEAR/RECORD OF A LIVING BEING. Toshiro Mifune, in a role that would've been better served by Takashi Shimura (but which Mifune handles capably enough), comes to see the writing on the proverbial wall- and, not unlike the scientist who sees his mental block literally falling apart under the telepathic assault of his tormentors in the original version of VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED, does everything within his power to stave off disaster. Mifune, chameleoned grim and bent, peers closely at everything through his glasses with a determination that can't be argued with: he's a man on a mission and, while I would've liked to have seen Shimura in the role, Mifune never once stumbles in the role. There's no scenery-chewing here. From Dan Kurzman's book DAY OF THE BOMB: "... silence conveyed what words could not." Mifune's character is understandably concerned- to the point of obsession. In a world where it turns out that there have already been over 200 atomic tests conducted (when it was previously thought that there had been less than a hundred), and where said tests have actually turned fish into air-breathing land animals, is such concern unwarranted? As this is being written, an American-grown "domestic terrorist" is said to have had the means to construct a "dirty bomb" for use against his fellow Americans. (His wife, we've been told, tired of his abuse, killed him.) Oppenheimer himself (the generally acknowledged "Father of the Atomic Bomb"), upon hearing of the successful detonation of the two bombs dropped on Japan (Ground Zero for one of which was a Japanese Christian church), said, quoting Krishna of Bhagavad-Gita: "I am death, the all-devouring, and the origin of things that are yet to be." He became a devout anti-nuke speaker following the war, but the genie had already been let out of the bottle. Kurosawa would revisit the idea of nuclear devastation late in his career with DREAMS and RHAPSODY IN AUGUST. One can't help but recall one of the final scenes in I LIVE IN FEAR: Shimura stands silent witness as Mifune, driven mad, stares wide-eyed out of the window in his (padded) cell at the sun and cries: "The earth is burning! The earth is burning!"

From the very very beginning during the opening credits sequence, we are given the ominous feeling of paranoia, the feeling with which it's vital to sympathize with Toshiro Mifune's character, an old foundry owner convinced that Japan is on the brink of nuclear obliteration, trying to force his reluctant and resentful family to safety in Brazil.Mifune's performance is so very masculine and real, as are nearly all of them. In this film, he displays a self-assurance that allows him to descend into pathetic helplessness. Of all the post-war Kurosawa films that I've seen so far, I Live In Fear is the most direct and informative. America may feed off of the dread showcased by the Japanese culture in this film and some may feel terribly sad for the individualistic portrayal of the debilitating fear stricken into the immovable hearts of stubborn old men like Mifune's character.Even as early as WWII, I learned, America's most powerful weapon has been fear. However, in those times, it was a much purer, less vain utility. But what about the people it destroys for the sake of its own feeling of security?

"I Live in Fear" is a thought-provoking, moving film about love, greed and fear, framed as only Kurosawa could. If you're a fan it's a must see, as it explores new and old themes in a stark, interesting manner. Excellent acting through-out, and please look carefully--Mifune wears no make-up, just huge glasses and a perpetual scowl; his talent and intensity were all he needed. This film also gives us an interesting look at Japan after the bomb, and the different ways people chose to deal with the fear they all in fact felt. The film does not judge, sympathizing with the children even as it highlights their selfishness. A good movie to make you think about where we've been, and where we might be headed.