We’ve watched many films by Akira Kurosawa but none have been quite like this, a lesser known one from very early in the director’s career. It’s about a student movement against the rise of militarism in Japan just before the Second World War, thus providing a relatively rare Japanese perspective of the war. It’s also notable in that it stars Setsuko Hara, who is best known for her collaborations with Yasujirō Ozu. I believe this is the only film in which Kurosawa and Hara worked together and I’m fascinated by how Kurosawa uses the actress in a way Ozu never would. There’s nothing particularly noteworthy in its execution so this isn’t considered to be a great film. But making this film in 1946 must have been an incredibly bold artistic statement and I really have to admire that.

Yukie Yagihara’s father is a law professor at Kyoto Imperial University and often spends time with his students. Due to their opposition against the rise of militarism in Japan and the invasion of Manchuria, they are condemned as Reds by the government and her father is relieved of his post. Two students in particular are interested in Yukie and offer to stop their studies to keep up the fight for academic freedom. Itokawa’s mother persuades him to continue as his family’s finances are insecure and he eventually graduates and becomes a prosecutor. Noge becomes a radical leftist and is sentenced to prison. When Noge is released, he seems to have changed and is even going to serve in Mongolia. Yukie, who favors him, is disappointed. She moves out of her parents’ house to make a life for herself in Tokyo. Years later Japan is at war with the US and Yukie runs into Itogawa on the street. He is now married and tells her that Noge is back in Japan. She discovers that Noge is ostensibly providing advice on China but is secretly involved in subversive work to undermine the Japanese war effort. Her passion for him flares again and they move in together as de facto husband and wife without permission from their parents.

There’s more to the film than this as it recounts Yukie’s story up to the end of the war. It’s loosely based on the real life Takigawa incident of 1933 but this adaptation feels more like a romantic film with Yukie being in love with the fiery and idealistic Noge despite knowing that their life together will be miserable. There are no battle scenes and it is set entirely in Japan. Still some of the shots of the mass student protests look reminiscent of Kurosawa’s later samurai films. The film’s anti-war stance is overt and unmistakable even if it refrains from outright making anyone out as villains. Even Itogawa who becomes part of the Japanese establishment isn’t really vilified though at the end Yukie clearly doesn’t consider him a friend any longer. The film’s framing of this as being about academic freedom is too reticent as of course it’s about Japan’s aggression. The film is cagey about what exactly Noge is up to but hints that he is sabotaging the war effort. This means that they are heroically opposing the war even though it makes them traitors and criminals in the eyes of the government and society. It’s a very straightforward take but such explicit condemnation of the war from the Japanese perspective seems really rare, so watching this was a novel experience.

I’m particularly fascinated by different this feels from every other Kurosawa film I’ve seen. It’s very political for one thing and is so harsh towards Japan. Then there’s how he uses the Setsuko Hara who some consider to be the greatest Japanese actress of all time. At one point she does appear as the quintessential refined lady she so often portrays in Ozu’s films but her range here is wider than that. She’s also the spoiled brat who is shockingly insouciant of Japan’s aggression overseas and later a farmer who survives on crude labor, complete with muddied clothes and face and roughened hands. I do wish that her character had more agency than is shown here. She seems won over by Noge’s idealism but doesn’t seem to have strong beliefs or principles of her own. Even so it is very satisfying to watch a Japanese film tread relatively fresh ground like this.

As one of Kurosawa’s earliest films, this has numerous basic flaws that are visible, including the camera failing to keep characters in focus as they move around. Furthermore while this is interesting territory for a Japanese to explore, it’s nothing particularly special by the standards of international cinema. It’s understandable that this isn’t considered one of Kurosawa’s great works but I’d still recommend watching this to gain a fuller understanding of the director’s range and his thoughts about Japan.