No Regrets for Our Youth
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Year Released: 1946
Rating: 1.0
In 1930's (fascist) Japan, Yukie (Setsuko Hara), the daughter of a professor dismissed for trying to teach a 'liberal curriculum,' falls in love with one of Dad's radical protégés, Noge (Susumu Fujita), who is eventually arrested and dies in prison for "treason." Being one of Kurosawa's early efforts - I'm not impressed with anything he made prior to Stray Dog - it's really just an awkward soap opera/woman's picture with art-house aspirations ... and not terribly involving: Noge's death takes place a little over an hour in - their relationship is supposed to be the 'heart' of the movie (although Kurosawa was never particularly skilled at depicting romance) - and after that the movie just beats Yukie into the rice patties she labors in. The tone is remorseful (the cast and crew were reportedly malnourished when making this), so perhaps there were some regrets to be had after all....
