The Lower Depths (again)

The Lower Depths by Renoir suffers immensely from being watched so soon after Donzoko, a superior film. That one feels more like a play than this one, but that one felt much more real. Probably because the ending seems a lot better in the Kurosawa one, as this one just seems too forced. And I really don't like that the beginning of the movie just feels like an attempt to expand the play from basically one set. I have never read the play, and I'm not at all familiar with it, but the expansion just seems a little forced. After doing a little looking (yay for Wiki), Kurosawa filmed it in a much more accurate fashion than Renoir. Sometimes I like a happy ending, sometimes I like a sad ending, but I just don't think a happy ending fits with the rest of the story. And I don't like Jean Gabin nearly as much as Toshiro Mifune. So, basically, Kurosawa version=excellent, Renoir version=good.