The Most Beautiful (as part of the Eclipse Series 23: The First Films of Akira Kurosawa) (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

July 16, 2010 by Dennis Amith 

Akira Kurosawa’s wartime propaganda film for Imperial Japan to boost morale and productivity for female Japanese factory workers and his second film that introduced him to his wife.  Kurosawa has said this film is most dearest to him and now, this obscure film is available on the “Eclipse Series 23: The First Films of Akira Kurosawa”.

Image courtesy of © 1944 Toho Co., Ltd. © 2010 The Criterion Collection. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: The Most Beautiful (as part of the Eclipse Series 23: The First Films of Akira Kurosawa)

DURATION: 85 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Black and White, 1:33:1 Aspect Ratio, Monaural, Japanese with English subtitles

COMPANY: Janus Films/The Criterion Collection

RELEASED: August 3, 2010

Written and Directed by Akira Kurosawa

Produced by Motohiko Ito, Jin Usami

Music by Seiichi Suzuki

Cinematography by Joji Ohara

Production Design by Teruaki Abe

Starring:

Takashi Shimura as Chief Goro Ishida

Shoji Kiyokawa as Soichi Yoshikawa, Chief of General Affairs Section

Ichiro Sugai as Ken Shinda, Chief of Labor Section

Takako Irie as Noriko Mizushima, Dorm Mother

Yoko Yaguchi as Tsuru Watanabe, President of Women Workers

Sayuri Tanima as Yuriko Tanimura, Vice President of the Women Workers

Sachiko Ozaki as Sachiko Yamazaki

Shizuko Nishigaki as Fusae Nishioka

Asako Suzuki as Asako Suzumura

Haruko Toyama as Masako Koyama

Aiko Masu as Tokiko Hiroda

Kazuko Hitomi as Kazuko Futomi

Shizuko Yamada as Hisae Yamaguchi

Itoko Kono as Sue Okabe

Toshiko Hattori as Toshiko Hattori

Emiko Rei as Chie Shima

Haruko Mii as Haruko Kawai

Minori Toyohara as Minori Yoyota

Eiko Hirayama as Yoshiko Shirayama

Harue Yamashita as Kiyo Mishima

Mineko Mashiro as Mineko Bando

Isuzu Miyakawa as Shizue Miyazaki

Michiko Oikawa as Michiko Ayukawa

Teruko Kato as Teruko Sato

Years before Akira Kurosawa changed the face of cinema with such iconic works as Rashomon, Seven Samurai, and Yojimbo, he made his start in the Japanese film industry with four popular and exceptional works, created as World War II raged. All gripping dramas, those rare first films—Sanshiro Sugata; The Most Beautiful; Sanshiro Sugata, Part Two; and The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail—are collected here and include a two-part martial arts saga, a portrait of female volunteers helping the war effort, and a kabuki-derived tale of deception. These captivating films are a glorious introduction to a peerless career.

The Most Beautiful - This portrait of female volunteer workers at an optics plant during World War II, shot on location at the Nippon Kogaku factory, was created with a patriotic agenda. Yet thanks to Akira Kurosawa’s groundbreaking semi-documentary approach, The Most Beautiful is a revealing look at Japanese women of the era and anticipates the aesthetics of Japanese cinema’s postwar social realism.

Akira Kurosawa, one of the most highly revered filmmakers of all time.

A career which began in the 1930′s up to his final directorial work in 1993, The Criterion Collection is known for celebrating Kurosawa’s oeuvre through multiple DVD releases including the most recent collection titled “AK100: 25 Films by Akira Kurosawa”. But if there was one collection that many have clamored for many years, it was his earlier films.

And now the Criterion Collection has presented us with another Kurosawa Eclipse Series set titled “Eclipse Series 23: The First Films of Akira Kurosawa” which includes his first four films: “Sanshiro Sugata” (1943), “The Most Beautiful” (1944), “Sanshiro Sugata, Part Two” (1945) and “The Men Who Tread On the Tiger’s Tail” (1945).

All four films were previously featured in the “AK100: 25 Films by Akira Kurosawa” DVD set but for those who have been collecting the Akira Kurosawa DVD’s via the Criterion Collection individually and those who previously purchased the “Postwar Kurosawa” Eclipse Series #7 set, this latest DVD Eclipse Series set is a welcomed addition to the Eclipse Series and a must-have for your Akira Kurosawa Criterion collection.

Following his film “Sanshiro Sugata”, in 1944, Akira Kurosawa would begin work on his 1944 war propaganda film “Ichiban utsukushiku” (The Most Beautiful/一番美しく).  And like many Japanese filmmakers of that era, many joined the ideological effort to help boost productivity and morale in the country.

As the United States had Rosie the Riveter as a cultural icon representing the American women who worked the factories during World War II, Kurosawa’s “The Most Beautiful” is a semi-documentary which deals with the ideology of “Kokutai” and the women who worked for the sacrifice for their country.  In this case, women who worked at a factory creating optics that are to be used in fighter planes, tanks, ships and vehicles used in the war.

We watch as the women are not inspired at first while working at the factory but with the government and military depending on the women for their work, a young woman named Tsuru Watanabe (played by Yoko Yaguchi) becomes the president of the women workers and fights for their rights.  But most of all, making them feel a purpose of their job.

From assembling like a military unit with their instruments and singing their song about Mongolian conquerors who couldn’t defeat Japan and these women literally dedicating their all, by working hard at the factory in making sure that the men will not have any faulty optics but growing together like a family and taking care of each other, especially if one of the girl’s are sick.

“The Most Beautiful” gives us Japanese insight on World War II propaganda and what kind of films were used to boost morale among Japanese female factory workers.

VIDEO:

“The Most Beautiful” is presented in black and white (1:33:1 Aspect Ratio) and for a film that is nearly 70-years old, the film does have a good amount of scratches and dust but by no means is the film difficult to watch.  If anything, a film that is typically shot in a factory or a dorm room can easily be boring visually to the viewer but Kurosawa knows that due to the surroundings, what you can do is focus on the emotions of the young women.  To focus on how the women work together and also have fun together as seen in an enjoyable volleyball match (something that is rare to see in Japanese cinema).

But for the most part, it’s a film that would eventually focus on Tsuru (played by Yoko Yaguchi) and would showcase her as an actress dealing with a variety of emotions and capturing the happiness, the sadness and heartbreaking pain.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“The Most Beautiful” is presented in Japanese monaural with English subtitles. Dialogue is clear and heard no significant clicks, pops or humming through the entire film.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Eclipse Series releases do not come with special features but included in the insert is a background on Kurosawa and the information about the film.

“The Most Beautiful” is a film that many people who are familiar with Kurosawa’s work, would be intrigued because of how different it is from his latest work but also to see how Kurosawa created his film during World War II.  His role as a filmmaker and how he would contribute to inspiring Japanese during the war.

But it’s important to note that Kurosawa was a man who believed in nonconformity and “The Most Beautiful” is a film that he did not embrace.  In fact, according to the insert, he chastised himself for “doing very little to resist the nation’s descent into militarism”.  But yet the film was the most dearest to him because the lead actress Yoko Yaguchi would become his wife.

I’ve had a chance to see look on various forums on a non-Japanese perspective and view towards this film and some who arrive at conclusions dialectically to those who use the film to polemicize the Japanese military and its treatment towards other countries.

For me, “The Most Beautiful” is a film that represents an era and a country who wanted to boost morale for the many women who had to work at the factory.  In America, we had “Rosie the Riveter” and I’m sure other countries who took part in a World War, had their own set ways of boosting morale in their country.

But I suppose if one watched this film, its all subjective to the viewer of how all the women come to support their president and to be astonished by her dedication to her country and those fighting the war.  And in the final scene, Kurosawa manages to include a contradictory scene involving the main protagonist which in my opinion is a wonderful scene because it shows that no matter how strong she may be and dedicated to her country, she’s also human.

“The Most Beautiful” will probably not be a film that many people will feel is Kurosawa’s best film but for those who want to to step aside from his more well-known films and want to see a much earlier film by Kurosawa during World War II, then definitely gives this film a try.

I enjoyed how he created a film that is like a semi-documentary (it helps that he shot the film in a factory and the women had to partake in the work of the factory in order to make the film more realistic) but also trying to incorporate enough story and scenes to keep the film fun and entertaining.  It’s not as deep as his later films nor does it have a lot of layers of complexity.  It’s pretty much a straightforward film.

And again, there is no doubt that “The Most Beautiful” is a propaganda wartime film for Imperial Japan and whether or not it did help boost productivity and morale for female factory workers, who knows… but Kurosawa was able to capture that sense of unity and the love for the country and the men who are fighting for that country.  He may not have wanted to make this kind of film (originally, he was supposed to direct an action film about Zero fighter planes) but he manages to include a coming-of-age story that helps to define several characters primarily the main protagonist and if anything, he managed to meet the woman he would eventually marry.  So, I can see how this film is most dearest to him.

Overall, it’s great for Criterion to include this obscure film from Kurosawa’s oeuvre in  the “Eclipse Series 23: The First Films of Akira Kurosawa” DVD set and for fans of Kurosawa who have never seen his earlier work, will definitely want to check out this DVD set!