Rhapsody in August
by Akira Kurosawa
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Actor: Hisashi Igawa, Narumi Kayashima, Richard Gere, Sachiko Murase, Tomoko ÔtakaraDirector: Akira Kurosawa
Brand: Sony
Writer: Akira Kurosawa
Producer: Hisao Kurosawa
Producer: Mike Y. Inoue
Producer: Seikichi Iizumi
Producer: Toru Okuyama
Writer: Ishirô Honda
Writer: Kiyoko Murata
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Japanese (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 98 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-07-01
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
DVD Reviews of Rhapsody in August
DVD Review: Kurosawa's Majesty on a Low Flame in Minor League Anti-War Film
Summary: 3 Stars
The best of intentions certainly infuse Akira Kurosawa's penultimate film released in 1991, but unfortunately it really doesn't move me despite the worthy subject of dealing with the years-later aftermath of the atomic bomb dropped in Japan. Much of the problem is the glacial pacing and the stilted emphasis on the children's perspective which prevents the film from gaining any subtlety or emotional resonance. Set forty-five years after the end of WWII, the plot centers on four Japanese children who visit their grandmother Kane in Nagasaki for the summer. As the anniversary of the atomic attack draws near, they learn about the bomb's deadly legacy. Their grandfather died in the blast, and as we learn, Kane has never really resolved her quiet resentment. Every August, she pays tribute to her dead husband at a religious shrine. Unfortunately, Kurosawa paints the children in such broad, sitcom-level strokes that make it nearly impossible to empathize with their inquisitive concern about their grandmother.
On the other hand, 86-year old Sachiko Murase is exquisite as the wizened Kane as she exhibits the inner conflict within her character when she realizes she may have to face the prospect of meeting Japanese-American relatives in Hawaii, including an older brother she cannot recall knowing among ten siblings. The brother, who has become a naturalized American citizen and married a Caucasian, is ailing and wants to see Kane before he dies. Desperate to visit Hawaii, one of the children writes a letter to the brother, which prompts the brother's son to visit to apologize for the bombing. The weight of a national conscience seems overemphasized here, especially as embodied by Richard Gere in an extended cameo as the brother's half-Japanese son, Clark. Gere's appearance, despite his good intentions in light of his pacifist position, is distracting to say the least, especially since he does not look the least bit Japanese. While his accent is decent enough, his cadence when speaking is halting to the point of sounding rather Berlitz-trained. It's actually not a bad performance but certainly not a necessary one given the number of Japanese-American actors who could have played the part with greater ease.
The film ends on a rather surreal note as Kane fights a rainstorm that has clouds that remind her of the bomb's immediate aftermath. This sequence is fraught with symbolism but seems emotionally vague as it goes on endlessly. There are random moments when the Kurosawa touch is evident, for example the composed shots of the old women in prayer or the use of a gnarled jungle gym as a symbol of the bomb (and perhaps as a tribute to the playground built in his classic film, "Ikiru"). He also effectively uses Vivaldi's "Stabat Mater" as background music during key scenes. At the same time, as a Japanese-American, I was hoping that Kurosawa would have delved into the complexities of the decisions behind the atomic bomb and how the Japanese have attempted to reconcile the act with their own culpability during the war. Instead, the movie becomes a highly simplified anti-war polemic under the guise of a family film.
Description of Rhapsody in August
Academy AwardÂ(r) winner* Akira Kurosawa (The Seven Samurai) delivers 'the most intimate drama of his career (Los Angeles Times), a stunning epic that is as visually tantalizing as it is emotionally touching. Set in the gorgeous countryside surrounding Nagasaki and starring Sachiko Murase, Hidetaka Yoshioka and Golden GlobeÂ(r) winner Richard Gere, this endearing saga follows a Japanese family once torn apart by war and now facing personal demons brought on by contact with American cousins lost long ago. Sachiko Murase is stunning as the aging matriarchof a Nagasaki family that has long lived with a legacy of horror brought on by WWII. But when an older brother she never knew she had resurfacesalong with his Japanese-American descendantsshe must come to terms with her most deeply held feelings about America and her haunted past. *1989: Honorary AwardThe final film released in the U.S. by Japanese master Akira Kurosawa looks at the atomic blast at Nagasaki from a distance of more than 40 years, through the eyes of a woman who survived it--and the grandchildren who are spending the summer with her. Though she tries not to think about it, the memory of the bombing is with her every day, in the family she lost and the scars she still carries. But the grandchildren insist on seeing the memorial, which brings it home to her once again--and to us. Though sometimes slow going (and what is Richard Gere doing in this movie, as her Amer-Asian nephew?), Rhapsody in August is a story about family and about living in the present while never being allowed to forget the past. --Marshall Fine
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