|
Actors: Sachiko Murase, Richard Gere
|
|
| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Rhapsody in August |
|---|
Four children go to their grandmother Kane's (Sachiko Murase) house in Nagasaki for the summer. Enthralled with the USA and its consumer culture, they begin to learn about the atomic bomb and how it killed their grandfather, Kane's husband. Her older brother emigrated to Hawai'i many years before and has just passed away. His American son Clark (Gere), Kane's nephew, comes to Japan for a visit. Not a lot "happens" in this movie; it is more of an elegiac character study, uncharacteristically calm for a Kurosawa -- though of course it is his penultimate film, made in 1991 when he was about 80 years old.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
|
RHAPSODY IN AUGUST is a movie written, produced and directed by Akira Kurosawa in 1991. Eight nominations (the picture won four) for the Japanese Academy awards.
An old grandmother, Kane, is left with her four grandchildren in the family country home near Nagasaki, Japan. The children's parents have gone to Hawaii in order to make the acquaintance of Kane's older brother who's just got in touch with his family after having emigrated to the U.S.A. some 70 years before.
While the children are trying to persuade Kane to fly to Hawaii, the old woman starts to relate to them stories about the time of the explosion of the atomic bomb on the island and how this tragic event has affected the members of their family. The children soon forget the age difference between them and Kane and take an avid interest in their grandmother's stories. At the end of the summer, they will look at their native city with different eyes.
--Daniel Staebler, Resident Scholar
|
| Analysis of Rhapsody in August |
|---|
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about
books by breaking them down into many different literary
elements, all of which are searchable (click here). |
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1980's-1999
Family, loving
Yes
Special relationship with
- grandma
War impact on civilians/veterans
Yes
Ethnic/Regional/Gender story?
Yes
Main Char. ethnic: (if not US Caucasian)
- Japanese
Culture of surrounding area:
- Japanese
Kind of conflict:
- war, WW II
Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Age:
- 60's-90's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- white
Hair type
- (woman) long straight
Events of movie makes character more...
- happy
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Japanese
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
Hair style
- (man) short/standard wavey
Body type
- (man) average build
How much in movie?
- 20%
- 40%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Setting
Asia/Pacific/Middle East
Yes
Asian country:
- Japan
Forest?
Yes
City?
Yes
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Movie makes you feel...
- encouraged
Non-American film?
Yes
What language?
- Japanese
Subtitles?
- Yes
Any profanity?
- None
If soundtrack VERY NOTICEABLE...
- Orchestra/classical
Is this movie based on a
- book
|
| Most similar reviews by Gordonator ranking |
|---|
| Shall We Dance?
starring Koji Yakusho, Tamiyo Kusakari
|
| Ugetsu
starring Masayuki Mori, Machiko Kyô, Kinuyo Tanaka, Eitarô Ozawa
|
| Late Autumn
starring Setsuko Hara, Yôko Tsukasa, Nobuo Nakamura, Shin Saburi
|
| Fear and Trembling
starring Sylvie Testud, Kaori Tsuji, Taro Suwa, Yasunari Kondo, Sokyu Fujita
|
| The End of Summer
starring Setsuko Hara, Ganjiro Nakamura, Yôko Tsukasa, Michiyo Aratama, Keiju Kobayashi
|
|
Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
|
