As an admirer of Kurosawa, I have been warned by many on the political slant of the film. I do not blame Kurosawa for having made "The Most Beautiful" (1944) as it was probably a film which he was forced to make, but with "Rhapsody" made 45 years after the war ; his view of things in nothing short of being fascist. Japan was the aggressor. When Italy and Germany fell, they still believed they could win the war on the Asian front. If not for the bombs, how many more non Japanese nationals would have lost their lives or endured torture? They invaded. They caused such atrocities which human history had never before recorded. The Japanese militia was trained to commit suicide rather than surrender. If not for the H-Bombs, Japan will never have surrendered. The H-bombs were a necessity of the time. Why should an American feel embarrassed and apologise to the Japanese for Hiroshima and Nagazaki? It is the Japanese who should say no more to Japanese imperialism and apologises to the entire world for having invaded plundered raped mutilated and caused such suffering to the entire human race living in the east at the time. It is the Japanese who should say they have learned their lesson. After this I doubt if I will be able to see "the humanism" of Kurosawa in "Red Beard" in the same light. For those who think America wrong in 1945, well maybe it is high time they finance a film made by Jews apologising to the Germans for the concentration camps of WWII.
Review of Rhapsody in August
