Rhapsody in August
| Rhapsody in August | |
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| Directed by | Akira Kurosawa |
| Produced by | Hisao Kurosawa |
| Written by | Akira Kurosawa |
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| Music by | Shin’ichirō Ikebe |
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| Distributed by | Shochiku Films Ltd. |
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98 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese and English |
Rhapsody in August (八月の狂詩曲 Hachigatsu no rapusodī (Hachigatsu no kyōshikyoku)?) is a 1991 Japanese film by Akira Kurosawa. The story centers on an elderly hibakusha, who lost her husband in the 1945 atomic bombing of Nagasaki, caring for her four grandchildren over the summer. She learns of a long-lost brother, Suzujiro, living in Hawaii who wants her to visit him before he dies. American film star Richard Gere appears as Suzujiro's son Clark. The film was selected as the Japanese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 64th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.
Rhapsody in August is a tale of three generations and their responses to the atomic bombing of Japan. Kane is an elderly woman whose husband was killed in the bombing of Nagasaki. Next, come her two children and their spouses, all of whom grew up in postwar Japan, as well as their Nisei cousin Clark (played by Richard Gere) who grew up in America. Finally, there are Kane's four grandchildren, who were born after the Japanese economic miracle and provide most of the dialogue in the film.
Kane's grandchildren come to visit her at her rural home on Kyūshū one summer while their parents visit a man who may or may not be Kane's brother in Hawaii. Like most children, they are bored out of their minds, find her cooking to be disgusting, and escape to the urban environment of Nagasaki the first chance they get. While in Nagasaki the children visit the spot where their grandfather was killed in 1945 and become aware of the atomic bombing for the first time in their lives. They slowly come to have more respect for their grandmother and also grow to question the United States for dropping the Bomb.
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