Masaki Kobayashi 's The Inheritance (1962) a.k.a Karami-ai, is like a slapstick comedy made on the lines of a Noir Style suspense Drama, with new twists and turns around every 1m of reel.
A dying man quest to find his children in order to prepare his last will so that her not loving & somewhat selfish wife ;does not take everything from his 300 million yen fortune; takes an Agatha Christie novel like turn when all characters come into play to get theirs hands on the big bounty.
There are a lot of characters but still we do not get confused with the plot and are able to witness the plans for various parties unfold in front of your screen, some to success and others to no avail.
Tatsuya Nakadai's Character 'kikuo Furukawa' shines less in this film but Nakadai has still managed to give him some soul.
It is keiko Kishi's "Yasuko" who turns from a mellow secretary to an Cunning Vixen, who; through clever strategies turn the tide of events in her favour.
Kobayashi's this film is short, fast-paced, well structured, well executed, with a jazzy soundtrack and classy Tracking Shots ; to increase the interest and concentration of the viewers.
This Kobayashi is of the ranks of Kubrick's "The Killing(1956)", Billy Wilder's "Double Idemnity(1944)", Hawks's "The Big Sleep(1946), Akira Kurosawa's"The Bad Sleep Well" and also his own other great works like "Human Condition Trilogy", "kwaidan", "Samurai Rebellion", "Harakiri", "Black River" and should reciever more recognition as these above mentioned great works ; which from the imdb's number of votes and reviews, does not look favourable to its caliber.
Definitely a treat for a Noir, Kobayashi, or any avid Cinema Fan.
