Alternate Best Actor 1958: Toshiro Mifune in The Rickshaw Man

Toshiro Mifune did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Matsugoro the titular character in The Rickshaw Man. 

I guess with Mifune my work is never done, which is fine by me since, as you might've gathered at this point, I'm a big fan. Mifune's performance here is a bit of an oddity, though not that his performance is odd in any way, but it feels wholly different from any other Mifune performance, while being entirely a performance by Mifune. To explain. Mifune is a performer who always physically just exudes some kind of command of some sort, even when unwieldy as in the case of Seven Samurai as the most haphazard warrior there's still such a power to him. Mifune here almost physically seems different from any of his other performances, because what Mifune portrays is kind of normalcy, which is kind of fascinating in itself. Take one of the earliest scenes for Mifune's titular Rickshaw Man faces down a man in a pseudo combat, only resulting in him getting cracked on the head. Mifune's performance doesn't suggest the other man is in any danger either in his badass manner as seen in Yojimbo or his unpredictable threat as seen in Seven Samurai. Rather Mifune doesn't present any kind of threat which weirdly is an accomplishment, and kind of magical. Magical because it speaks to the physicality of such a performer who knows how to turn it on and off. As Mifune here seems so much smaller, for the lack of a better word, and in turn crafts the rickshaw man, who is a rickshaw man. 

And from that point of entry, while Mifune subverts his usually larger than life presence, he is larger than life but in a different way. His life here is rather purely within the personality, rather than through any danger the character may have for others. It is impressive as Mifune manages to be both comedic and earnest in creating this alternative style of his presence that does feel so unique within his filmography. Mifune's expressions are with this innate joy of life, this isn't a guy who is constantly struggling, even though he's a poor rickshaw man. Rather his expression is of someone who is ready to face whatever's coming at him, however as a man who maybe doesn't always have the skills to face off he always has the willingness to do so. As much as Mifune is gotten the better off in the opening scene, there is this sort of resilience that Mifune suggests as the innate state of the man. There is a potent energy within Mifune's performance that just exudes a different kind of toughness that is usually for his characters, yet extremely endearing here. Because it isn't presented as the sort of conviction of the normal kind of man, rather this eccentric nature of someone who just always goes about things his way. There's a wryness that Mifune brings by presenting Matsugoro as someone who finds his way around and in things, his way and almost always with a big smile on his face. 

There's another moment early on where Matsugoro is our Mifune type hero but in a very/ different way for Mifune, where he takes on a snooty opera house by cooking smelly food inside it. Mifune's performance emphasizes this dogged manner but more so the joyful sort of exuberance of the man just going about things his way, in his eccentricity however still as a man who overall is low key, which is juxtaposition that maybe shouldn't work however it does. The overall narrative comes in when the Matsugoro comes across a young boy he helps out and leads to him  being introduced to the boy's wealthier mother (Hideko Takamine) and his ailing, soon to be dead, father, a respected military captain, who previously took a liking to Matsugoro for his blunt and eccentric ways. Mifune is marvelous because what he does immediately is purge even the slightest hint that Matsugoro's intentions are anything but the purest. There is no sense that he's trying to manipulate to improve his plight nor is he trying to con them in his way. Rather Mifune exudes warmth, so much warmth, so much warmth in a way that even Mifune's more loving characters usually doesn't have. And it is impressive because there is such a great deal of comforting manner he brings in his delivery, but you also see the why of his physical presence, that makes Matsugoro "smaller" however in turn seemingly so much more comforting as a stranger just coming in to help. 

And Mifune is just wonderful as we see Matsugoro become closer to the family, bringing this powerful sense of the man just wanting to do what's best for the boy, and acting like the purest of mentors and guardians. Take a scene of just as the boy becomes a singer, Mifune's reaction to the singing is everything. There is such pride, such love, such care to every moment in it. He shows a man who just loves getting to experience being part of the boy's life in the most honest way possible. Every interaction Mifune emphasizes is the spirit of goodness that is Matsugoro's true intentions at every point, and it is hard not to find Mifune endearing in every interaction. He has great chemistry with the boy, where he's not a surrogate father exactly, but rather kind of just this perfect sort of loving uncle. Mifune just charms in every instance and it is something special to see Mifune in these moments where there is no overt dramatic weight as we usually see Mifune in so often. Rather he's just a man loving this simple life and loving this simple relationship. Not that his performance is ever simple, you can take the moment where he reacts just to grief of the man's widow, and in just a quick instance you can see so much empathy in Mifune's eyes, that again reinforces Matsugoro as this masterful portrayal of a truly caring man. 

Where the film probably differs from the expectation, and something that improved for me when I re-watched, therefore already knew the trajectory, is it deals with what is the long haul of the relationship between the rickshaw man and the young boy, when class is an ever present part of society. And we see Mifune age here, and he does so beautifully in his performance, nothing over the top, just a slower manner to the man, and a bit more of this sense of quiet nostalgia. We also see the boy grow up and become a man of society, therefore also all too aware of the expectations of that society which do not consider the relationship between him and the "lowly" Rickshaw man as appropriate. We see Matsugoro still be friendly, and the ever present heart in Mifune's performance as he calls out to the boy, now a man, lovingly as "Sonny", a name now rejected and has his mom tell Matsugoro to stop calling him that. Mifune is heartbreaking in this scene because he has so successfully established the sincerity of Matsugoro that the idea of forcing him to call the boy by his full proper name, you see how much it shatters him. His reaction is devastating in the earnest straightforward quality of the man not only losing that relationship but being treated as though he never had one in the first place. The remainder of the film then is the sad end of the rickshaw man, after he has lost his "usefulness" to the rich family. And Mifune is heart wrenching in showing the slow dissolution of the man, because it is with the old spirit of the man in there still. But what Mifune expresses in his reaction is the contrition of society. When he comes back to the mother, perhaps planning on attempting some kind of romantic overture, Mifune portrays instead a man just filled with anxiety and unable to break the restrictions placed on him by society. Leaving him only as a lonely man being worn away, and his final walk to nothingness, Mifune portrays such a potent tragedy of the man truly being lost and now just an old man fading away to nothingness. This is another great performance by Mifune, which is able to be such a heartwarming portrayal of a loving man, but also the tragic tale of what happens when that love is taken for granted.