Rotten
These days, people are more interested in Kurosawa than he is in being Kurosawa.
Michael Sragow, New Yorker
Rhapsody in August
Tears. Laughter. Innocence. It was a summer of remembering.
1991 · 1h 38m · PG
Drama
Directed by
Akira Kurosawa
Overview
An elderly Nagasaki hibakusha spends a summer caring for her four grandchildren, whose curiosity about the 1945 bombing stirs buried memories and moral questions. When an American nephew from Hawaii visits, the family confronts grief, guilt, and the possibility of reconciliation across generations.
Director and cast
- Akira Kurosawa Director
- Sachiko Murase as Kane (The Grandmother)
- Hidetaka Yoshioka as Tateo
- Tomoko Otakara as Tami
- Mieko Suzuki as Minako
- Mitsunori Isaki as Shinjiro
- Hisashi Igawa as Tadao
- Toshie Negishi as Kane's daughter
- Chōichirō Kawarasaki as Noboru
- Narumi Kayashima as Machino
- Chôichirô Kawarasaki as Noboru
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
60%
Tomatometer
Rotten
There's more narrative movement here than in Dreams, but the pedagogic humanism still gets bogged down in facile simplification.
Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Fresh
A beautiful reminder from octogenarian Akira Kurosawa that he's still the master.
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Fresh
Mr. Gere gives a good, self-effacing performance in a role that's a little unreal. He speaks his own Japanese dialogue easily and is at the center of one of Mr. Kurosawa's most breathtaking moments.
Vincent Canby, New York Times
Rotten
Plain and simple, Rhapsody is mediocre pap. It's nothing compared with his previous work.
Desson Thomson, Washington Post
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