Something Like a Filmography takes a (brief) look at the filmography of Akira Kurosawa. Twice a month, Chris and Jon share their impressions of each film, both on its own terms and in terms of Kurosawa’s legacy and its intersection in the Cinema Dual hosts’ lives.
FROM THE BOX: In Akira Kurosawa’s first film after the end of World War II, future beloved Ozu regular Setsuko Hara gives an astonishing performance as Yukie, the only female protagonist in Kurosawa’s body of work and one of his strongest heroes. Transforming herself from genteel bourgeois daughter to independent social activist, Yukie traverses a tumultuous decade in Japanese history.
WHAT CHRIS THOUGHT: I’m somewhat ashamed to say this film bounced completely off me. It feels like Kurosawa trying to break out of the guidelines imposed by a new Japanese government struggling to define itself for the post-war, and No Regrets For Our Youth cannot find a balance between the political moments (which feel jarring after see his previous pro-Japan propaganda films so recently) and the character melodrama that takes over the second half of the film. There are still a few genuine beautiful moments (how can there not be in an Kurosawa film?) like the decision to film Yukie’s pacing in front of Noge’s business over the seasons from the perspective of inside the buildings looking out through the windows. But speaking of Yukie – despite having loved the work of Setsuko Hara in other films here I found her manic swaying from bulldog impetuousness to demure frightened girl not effective, though that could have to do with the story/script and the way, way too long running time. On the plus side it was fun to see Takashi Shimura in a brief, more villainish role as a police commissioner, and I was again surprised at how much I enjoyed Susumu Fujita’s performance as the brash ideologist Noge. I love Kurosawa’s habit of working the same folks – it allows him to really know their strengths and create roles they’ll excel in, and it’s section to see that play out with Fujita.
WHAT JON THOUGHT: My immediate reaction to No Regrets For Our Youth was to reassess The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail, specifically how much its short run time relates to its success. There are compelling aspects in No Regrets. Kurosawa’s cinematic eye comes in handy in the the student riot section. I also like the sequence near the film’s end where Yukie sits by the river while students cross the river, mirroring a similar sequence in the film’s opening. From an acting perspective, I like the range that Setsuko Hara gets to show, from being essentially a spoiled child to someone who learns the need for self-sacrifice. A particular highlight is when Yukie, hardened by the manual labor undertaken for her inlaws, walks through a hostile village with a look that shows she’s not to be trifled with. Takashi Shimura gets to have a fun minor appearance as a villainous cop, and in this series to date, my biggest takeaway might be that Susumu Fujita should have been in more Kurosawa movies. As a complete two-hour movie however, Kurosawa fumbles the major political and interpersonal topics to such an extent that the emerging themes are weak and ineffectual.
ANYTHING ELSE, CHRIS? Having now read the chapter devoted to the film in Richie’s book, I’m perhaps left with more understanding as to the “why” of it all but it doesn’t change my impressions. So instead I’ll focus on a few other scenes that stuck with me. The first is Yukie’s tearing of her perfectly fine if traditional floral arrangement in favor of something much more striking in its violence: she tears the heads of the flowers off their stems and drops them into the water to flat and move as they see fit. It’s a beautiful image, and another sterling example of how Kurosawa uses ordinary, inanimate objects to stand in for ideas or feelings. He does it again in the climatic moment when Noge and Yukie embrace in a violent collision. Instead of focusing on their passion, he turns the camera to the purse Yukie dropped on the floor, staring at it as you can hear to the two finally give in to their passions. This gives me an opportunity to echo Jon in how much I love seeing (and discovering through this series) Fujita, a man with heat to spare. Is he the proto-Mifune? Only time and more films will tell…
ANYTHING ELSE, JON? To elaborate on the political content of the movie, I’ve seen it argued (especially by Richie) that this is an apolitical movie, as Kurosawa is mostly interested in Yukie’s individual response to the world created by the militaristic industry on the right and the peasants on the left. While I agree with that assessment of the movie’s theme (what little of it survives), I disagree the movie is apolitical. From the real life historical events the movie is based on, to the labor struggles that interfered with the film’s production, to Kurosawa’s own complicated feelings on his own participation in the war, the political is omnipresent throughout this movie. Additionally, the focus on individual responses to societal actions is itself a political perspective, one that will recur frequently throughout this series. It will just be deployed to much better effect elsewhere.
THE FINAL WORD(S): For Chris, this is the first misstep for Kurosawa, although he would eventually return to this idea with more stellar results in future films. Some gorgeous images, though. For Jon, despite some winning performances and a few moments of cinematic note, Jon does now have one regret.
NEXT TIME: We turn to the romantical with One Wonderful Sunday.
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