Scandal (1950)

Interesting facts

Scandal is a 1950 Japanese drama film directed by Akira Kurosawa and written by Kurosawa and Ryūzō Kikushima, and stars Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, and Yoshiko Yamaguchi. Produced by Shochiku, Scandal tells the story of the painter Aoye and singer Saijo and their efforts to take the editors of a tabloid magazine to court for falsely depicting them as romantically involved. The pair take on the services of the lawyer Hiruta who becomes racked with guilt when he offers a deal to the magazine to throw the case on purpose so that he can afford to take care of his tubercular daughter.

Production

In the aftermath of the Toho strikes and subsequent Red Purge of left-wing Japanese filmmakers from major studios, Kurosawa joined other filmmakers to form the independent production company Society of Film Artists to assist in the creation of his films. Scandal was conceived by Kurosawa as a protest film about the increasing popularity of tabloid journalism in Japan.

Scandal, produced by Shochiku, was co-written by Kurosawa and Ryūzō Kikushima. Kurosawa described some difficulty during the writing of the screenplay, with neither himself nor Kikushima feeling satisfied with its development. As he continued to write, Kurosawa found himself more interested by the character of Hiruta, and eventually wrote the film focussed around his character's internal conflict.

Toshiro Mifune and Yoshiko Yamaguchi co-starred in the first of five collaborations together. Yamaguchi later reflected on the experience as having been a frightening one, describing the atmosphere of the set as "incredibly intense", and Kurosawa as kind but a perfectionist.

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