The Inheritance

A Japanese film set in Tokyo. Kawara owns a large company. He learns that he has cancer and that his time is short. He has no legal heir; there are no known children and the whole fortune will be left open. He calls in three people. He says he has three children by different women and wants them found. He sets the company's executives and his lawyer to the task. They set out. But none of them is really looking for children: each wants to enlarge his own share and tries to pull whoever he finds onto his side. His wife is running her own plan. Yasuko, the secretary, stands outside all of it at first. What the film is interested in is not the inheritance but how a group of people treat each other in a short time: everyone makes an agreement with someone else, then breaks it, and nobody is honest. The narrative proceeds coldly and feels sympathy for no one. Keiko Kishi plays Yasuko and Tatsuya Nakadai one of the executives. Yasuko also narrates. Masaki Kobayashi directed. It was shot in black and white for the wide screen; the office scenes are built on symmetrical framing. A strong production for anyone who likes Japanese cinema and cold satire. For a viewer wanting a likeable character, the film tries to endear nobody.