A simple yet masterful moment of deviation occurs as the family attempts to settle its dispute. One side of the table is populated by the court's appointed officials, the opposite side by the Nakajima family. The Nakajimas interrupt, argue, and loudly expound upon their feelings, while the officials take their time to speak, politely refuse to interrupt, and listen thoughtfully to every opinion being expressed. This belligerent and argumentative scene is quickly followed by a quiet one of great importance, where, despite his children's apparent ungratefulness, Kiichi brings back sodas and wordlessly hands them out, reminding us of an earlier wordless scene where Mifune confronts the family as they whimper away from his furious incursion. I Live In Fear is a complex juxtaposition of graceful and violent temperaments, protective and passionate dialogue which reveals the universal restlessness of the post-Hiroshima world.
It is interesting to note that while this film finds the familial bonds between the patriarch and his offspring lacking, the collaboration between Kurosawa and the cast and crew he often employs was as strong as ever. 
Both Minoru Chiaki (here giving a wonderful performance as Kiichi's son Jiro) and Bokuzen Hidari return from their roles in Seven Samurai as a samurai and a peasant respectively, as well as the two leads, and his favorite cinematographer Asakazu Nakai, a man who would work with Kurosawa a total of 11 times.
The film's climax does not give us a thematically concrete assurance of security as we desire but it carries the narrative to its necessary conclusion, a conclusion born of mistrust and unreliable worldly relations. The real message of the film is finally articulated by Kiichi's new doctor at the end of the film, asking, “Is he crazy? Or are we, who can remain unperturbed in an insane world, the crazy ones?”
Article comments
1 - hernan
Isao Takahata's "Grave of the Fireflies" does not despict the (atomic) bombings of Hiroshima or Nagasaki. It despicts "traditional" (incendiary) firebombing over continental Japan (Kobe).
2 - Joshua Wiebe
My bad, it's been quite a while since I've seen it.