Scandal (1950)

Scandal (Japanese: 醜聞, Hepburn: Sukyandaru; or Shūbun) 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.

The film was conceived as a protest film against the spread of unfettered tabloid journalism. Kurosawa and Kikushima experienced some difficulty during the writing of the screenplay; Kurosawa found that the character of Hiruta began to draw his interest far more than the original tabloid court story. Shooting began in 1949 and ended in January 1950 amidst a series of personal and professional milestones for Kurosawa and Mifune. The film was released in Japan on 30 April 1950 to a degree of success, coming sixth on Kinema Junpo's Best Ten list for films of that year. Later assessments of the film have been more critical. Analyses of the film have focussed on the depiction of the press and spread of low culture mass media, and the idealistic morality of its characters.