Film Still

One Wonderful Sunday

Akira Kurosawa

Japan

1947

109 minutes

Black and White

1.33:1

Japanese

Synopsis

This affectionate paean to young love is also a frank examination by Akira Kurosawa of the harsh realities of postwar Japan. During a Sunday trip into war-ravaged Tokyo, Yuzo and Masako look for work and lodging, as well as affordable entertainments to pass the time. Reminiscent of Frank Capra’s social-realist comedies and echoing contemporaneous Italian neorealism, One Wonderful Sunday touchingly offers a sliver of hope in dark times.

Cast

YuzoIsao Numasaki
MasakoChieko Nakakita
YamamotoAtsushi Watanabe
Dessert shop ownerZeko Nakamura
Yamiya, the black marketeerIchiro Sugai
Dance hall managerMasao Shimizu

Credits

DirectorAkira Kurosawa
ScreenplayAkira Kurosawa and Keinosuke Uegusa
CinematographyAsakazu Nakai
MusicTadashi Hattori

From the Current

Eclipse Series 7:
Postwar Kurosawa

by Michael Koresky Jan 14, 2008

As Japan was coming out of World War II, Akira Kurosawa was coming into his own as a filmmaker. And this was hardly a coincidence: though he had made a name for himself as a promising popular craftsman at Toho Studios during the war, Kurosawa later said he didn’t feel he could express himself as...

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