Subarashiki nichiyobi (1947)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Akira Kurosawa (writer)
Keinosuke Uegusa (writer)

Release Date:

June 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Yuzo and his fiancée Masako spend their Sunday afternoon together, trying to have a good time on just thirty-five yen...

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Isao Numasaki	...	Yuzo
Chieko Nakakita	...	Masako
Atsushi Watanabe	...	Yamamoto
Zeko Nakamura	...	Dessert Shop Owner
Ichiro Namiki	...	Street Photographer
Toppa Utsumi	...	Street Photographer
Ichirô Sugai	...	Yamiya, the black-marketeer
Masao Shimizu	...	Dance Hall Manager
Tokuji Kobayashi	...	Overweight apartment receptionist
Shiro Mizutani	...	Waif
Aguri Hidaka	...	Dancer
Midori Ariyama	...	Sono, Yamiya's mistress
Katao Numazaki	...	Bakery Owner
Toshi Mori	...	Apartment Superintendent

Also Known As:

One Wonderful Sunday (International: English title)
Wonderful Sunday

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Toho Studios, Tokyo, Japan

Company:

Toho Company

Brilliant In Its Simplicity

With this warm and uplifting film, the effect Kurosawa achieves is in the simplicity. The story is threadbare. Two lovebirds try to spend a Sunday together in post-war Tokyo and enjoy themselves with only 35 yen in their pockets. Kurosawa never ceases to amaze me because of his incredibly acute comprehension of the visual effects of a story. The simpler the story is, the more it becomes simply a day in their lives. The more it becomes a day in the life, the more upsetting we find the challenges facing them because of the Occupation and the crumbling economy at the time.

It's almost like a lightweight version of The Lost Weekend. There are no debilitating problems like alcoholism or writer's block. There are just obstructions and inconveniences with which the characters can either roll or stew around.

One Wonderful Sunday is a beautiful slice of life from a time that could be many different times in many different places. It's a peaceful movie about the peace that is always there for a given person, their journey being to find it. I have rarely seen a sequence so beautifully crafted on film as the two lovers in the empty, decaying concrete exterior auditorium, where one resolves to create the music they have been struggling to hear. There is hardly a handful of filmmakers living today that would think of such a thing. Kurosawa may have had the clearest, purest understanding of cinema out of any filmmaker.