Cinejapan 1: Sunshine after the rain

Without a doubt, Akira Kurosawa was one of the greatest and most influential auteurs of cinema, having revolutionized the medium in several ways (with the help of his longtime crews, actors and staff,) either through storytelling, cinematography, or even the usage of music.

In 1999 Takashi Koizumi, who had worked as an assistant for Kurosawa as early as Derzu Uzala, and had served as an assistant director for some of his last great epics like Kagemusha and Ran, directed a movie based on one of Kurosawa’s scripts, as a tribute to the director. The title was Ame Agaru, or “After the Rain.” With a cast of actors who had been in previous Kurosawa movies, especially from that of his last moviemaking period (where he usually sought foreign financial backing for his films) the movie ultimately turns into a very light, introspective yet simple film, reminiscent of both the master’s early years and of his last.

Ihei Misawa (Akira Terao, Dreams, Ran) is a ronin (masterless samurai) who wanders the land along with his wife, Tayo (Yoshiko Miyazawa, who was Lady Sue in Ran) one day they are stranded due to rains and forced to settle inside an inn until the rain stops, where other villagefolk are staying. There, Ihei risks his own honor as a samurai (by prizefighting, which is banned) to give food to the people and to make him happy. By this time, the Lord of the domain, Lord Nagai (Shiro Mifune, son of Toshiro Mifune) learns of a skilled ronin and invites him to become his sword fencing teacher.

The acting is solid – Akira Terao is humble, kind yet skilled with the sword – compare this with the samurai of the fiefdom (and Kurosawa’s similar treatment of the samurai character in Yojimbo and Sanjuro – unrefined, gruffy, yet honest and wise to the world, quite different from what was then the conventional image of the samurai.) Shiro Mifune is also solid, showing some of the brazenness and the intensity of his father.

Other Kurosawa veterans are also in the movie in supporting parts, notably Tatsuya Nakadai (take your pick!) and Mieko Harada (who was unforgettable as Lady Kaede in Ran) Hidetaka Yoshioka (Madadayo) among others.

The music is simple and is reminiscent of sountracks of previous Kurosawa films. They do not get in the way of the film, but help enrich it.

However, despite being in the spirit of Kurosawa, Kurosawa’s eye for the picture, the way he treated each shot like a painting (hence his superflat cinematography in most movies) is not here. That in itself is good, as at least Koizumi is not imitating Kurosawa, but treating Kurosawa material like his own.

The message of the film is simple, and basically the movie’s tone gives you a warm feeling inside, a message of hope. In one of the last shots of the film Ihei and Tayo look into the vast sea, illuminated by the sun. After the rain, there is indeed sunshine.