05-03-2020, 08:23 AM
This has alternate titles, some including the name of the protagonist, Muhomatsu (Matsu for short), who is played by Mifune. (Takashi Shimura is not among the cast.)
Matsu is a poor but spirited rickshaw man always getting into trouble but well-liked by the community. One day he helps an injured boy whose well-to-do parents befriend him. When the father dies suddenly, Matsu becomes a surrogate father for the boy, and the film charts their relationship as the boy grows up. Also charted is Matsu's secret love for the widow, which he never openly expresses, because he is just a lowly rickshaw man.
This won the Golden Lion in 1958.
Director Inagaki stole the idea for this film from a 1943 film of the same name. I'll grudgingly forgive him, since he directed that early one as well (stealing from yourself is a lesser crime, right?). Inagaki directed the Samurai trilogy I reviewed recently. He grew increasingly frustrated with his film "assignments" over the years, feeling that his own interests were being cast aside, and that only a few of his films he'd really wanted to make -- the Samurai trilogy, Furin Kazan (Samurai Banners) [another Mifune vehicle, but criterion doesn't have it!]. As for Rickshaw Man, I don't think he even wanted to make that, though he did so twice.
As wikipedia sums up about him, "Whatever his opinion, much of his other work remains estimable."
Which sent me to the dictionary for a refresher, because I'm accustomed to hearing "inestimable" when praising someone's work. In which case, does estimable mean the opposite?
Well, no. Inestimable means value beyond measure. Estimable means worthy of great respect. They're both complimentary, but in different ways.
I came up with two example sentences to help clarify their meanings:
The inflammable vest was inestimable.
The flammable vest was estimable.
Hope that helps.
Oh, and Rickshaw Man is a solid Mifune vehicle, by the way, though not top tier in my estimation (or inestimation?).
Matsu is a poor but spirited rickshaw man always getting into trouble but well-liked by the community. One day he helps an injured boy whose well-to-do parents befriend him. When the father dies suddenly, Matsu becomes a surrogate father for the boy, and the film charts their relationship as the boy grows up. Also charted is Matsu's secret love for the widow, which he never openly expresses, because he is just a lowly rickshaw man.
This won the Golden Lion in 1958.
Director Inagaki stole the idea for this film from a 1943 film of the same name. I'll grudgingly forgive him, since he directed that early one as well (stealing from yourself is a lesser crime, right?). Inagaki directed the Samurai trilogy I reviewed recently. He grew increasingly frustrated with his film "assignments" over the years, feeling that his own interests were being cast aside, and that only a few of his films he'd really wanted to make -- the Samurai trilogy, Furin Kazan (Samurai Banners) [another Mifune vehicle, but criterion doesn't have it!]. As for Rickshaw Man, I don't think he even wanted to make that, though he did so twice.
As wikipedia sums up about him, "Whatever his opinion, much of his other work remains estimable."
Which sent me to the dictionary for a refresher, because I'm accustomed to hearing "inestimable" when praising someone's work. In which case, does estimable mean the opposite?
Well, no. Inestimable means value beyond measure. Estimable means worthy of great respect. They're both complimentary, but in different ways.
I came up with two example sentences to help clarify their meanings:
The inflammable vest was inestimable.
The flammable vest was estimable.
Hope that helps.
Oh, and Rickshaw Man is a solid Mifune vehicle, by the way, though not top tier in my estimation (or inestimation?).
I'm nobody's pony.
