MovieChat Forums > Akahige (1968) Discussion > Child actors

Child actors

posted 16 years ago by happyhades
7 replies | jump to latest

The performances by Terumi Niki and Yoshitaka Zushi are among the best child performances I have ever seen. The trauma so clear in Otoyo's eyes is exceptional even for adult standards. Another astonishing shot is when Chobo tells Otoyo he is going away. He backs away from her and just for a second...tightens his lip...for a brief moment I could have mistaken him for a 40 year old man. The dynamics between the two actors in this scene is probably the best I have seen between two child actors ever.

Great movie overall, indeed one of Kurosawa's best in my opinion.

[–] mothboy88 16 years ago

I agree.

I had the same thought about Chobo- you can see he's an old soul

[–] Tchoutoye 14 years ago

Kurosawa took what happened to Chobo and his family and expanded on it in his next film Dodes'ka-den.

[–] pfr_77 9 years ago

interesting!

[–] KenanP 14 years ago

Great point. I usually hate children in movies (they either play annoying characters or are very poor actors), but the kids in this movie did not only just not bother me, but they improved the movie. I rarely feel this way.

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Oh you mad cuz I'm stylin on you

[–] Adler-99 12 years ago

Finally saw this film last night and the boy who played Chobo was amazing. When he was first shown in the bed in the clinic, I gasped because he looked and spoke like he was so old and really dying.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] flaiky 8 years ago

Yeah they were great. Chobo especially - the scene at the end where he was nearly dying, wow. How did they get a child to act that so convincingly?

That is a masterpiece of understatement.