I had heard a lot about the Movie Director Akira Kurosawa from Japan, who is regarded as one of the 'All Time Greatest Director' in the history of World Cinema. I came across Akira Kurosawa's movie collections at a DVD Shop in Shanghai & without a second thought, I picked it up & since then it is one of my prized possession in my humble sized library.
This weekend, I watched my first movie of this great director, the movie name is "One Wonderful Sunday" (English translation) (Original name: Subarashiki Nichiyobi - in Japanese), it's a black & white film made in 1947 & runs for 108 minutes.
Even though after the passage of 65 long years & me as an audience who is not Japanese (alien to the cultural aspects), the movie connected instantly with me by the storyline's pure innocence, the wonderful chemistry between the two lovers, the heart touching beautiful moments of hope & courage to keep alive their dreams & the heart wrenching moments of their despair & hopelessness, in the back drop of post-war Tokyo.
The story plot goes like this: Yuzo & his fiancee Masako, are in love with one another. They do not earn enough to met their ends & possibility of a better job, better income is remote during the post war times in Japan. Due to their financial constraints, they haven't been able to take forward their relationship into marriage, as Masako's family would not approve of Yuzo, due to his low social standing & low income.
Masako stays with her family in the suburbs of Tokyo & Yuzo stays with his room mate in a rented shabby room. They save whatever they can from their meagre income over the week for the eagerly awaited Sunday, the day of their dating. The typical date starts with Masako arriving Tokyo in train early in the morning with Yuzo waiting anxiously at the platform to receive her, then spending their whole day within their meagre budget & at night they part off with a heavy heart at the railway station, with the lingering hope to seeing each other next Sunday once again.
The movie, is about one such Sunday, they spend together with their weekly savings of 35 YEN..... the story takes you through the whole gamut of Human Emotions of the two lovers, through the day they spend together in the middle of the difficult times.
One of the scene & the narration: "Concert of Incomplete orchestra" will always stay with me, probably it was the essence which Kurosawa-san wanted to convey. Our life's may not be perfect, but we should try to make the best of it........"Concert of Incomplete Orchestra".