Akira Kurosawa's penultimate film, Rhapsody in August, is a family drama that's mostly about various people dealing with the 45th anniversary of the atomic bomb being dropped on Nagasaki. Letterboxd lists it as a comedy/drama, but I'd disagree. The first half is tonally a little lighter than the second, but neither feels like it's trying to be particularly comedic.
It's a solid movie, and I think it works better in the second half and the first. Surprisingly, Richard Gere is in it for a bit, and once you get over the surprise of seeing him rock up in a Kurosawa film, he's pretty good.
It's typically well acted and nicely shot, as you'd expect from Kurosawa. Its pacing is particularly slow, and I think that's what keeps me from liking it as much as his other 1990s films, but it's still a worthy entry in his fantastic filmography. It also ends on a strange but memorable note - one of those endings I can't make perfect sense of, but it feels appropriate somehow.
It's a solid movie, and I think it works better in the second half and the first. Surprisingly, Richard Gere is in it for a bit, and once you get over the surprise of seeing him rock up in a Kurosawa film, he's pretty good.
It's typically well acted and nicely shot, as you'd expect from Kurosawa. Its pacing is particularly slow, and I think that's what keeps me from liking it as much as his other 1990s films, but it's still a worthy entry in his fantastic filmography. It also ends on a strange but memorable note - one of those endings I can't make perfect sense of, but it feels appropriate somehow.