Je ne regrette pas ma jeunesse

The technical aspects of the film are very good. The camera used in this film uses abnormally slow shutter speeds causing the most slight (yet noticeable) distortions in movement, lending to the film a certain artistic sense that others do not have. It gives almost an eerie sense to it, and often times it seems to be somewhat drab, however: it seems to add very much to the mood of the story.

In addition to the artistic filming itself, the script truly drives the story and leads us to believe more of what Akira Kurosawa believed -- anti-Fascism, anti-Militarism, through the portrayal of events concerning Japanese imperial rule in the film. Through the eyes of Yukie we learn what it is like to be oppressed, and we learn the strength of the human spirit in its' resolute resistance to the militarism and fascism of her day; the power of the will is truly highlighted in this film, and the persistent commitment to doing good (similar to that portrayed by Watanabe in Ikiru) is very present.

The flashbacks to youth, the conjuring of memories, and the portrayal of the good times right next to the bad times, and the depth of human emotion that is revealed truly makes this film something worth watching. Some of the emotionality of the scenes (especially Yukie's emotional moments) portrays the existential angst that we all have, and her strength & perseverance represent everything we would like to have. It was a truly impacting story.

I was especially keen on the ability of Akira Kurosawa to take some of the most inward, personal moments of extreme sadness and put them into the film and, without any seeming prior explanation, the viewer is able to relate in their own way. This film highlights a philosophy of oneself against the world, and the importance of being true to one self. The message was portrayed very clearly and the end result is a masterpiece of Cinema that is greatly overlooked.

In my opinion, all of Kurosawa's films from 1946 through 1966 (I've seen about 18 which are available on video) are highly recommended. They are not only good the first time through, but hold up to multiple viewings. The star of No Regrets For our Youth is Setsuko Hara, who also starred in Kurosawa's The Idiot and in several Yasujiro Ozu films including Tokyo Story and Early Summer. From what I have heard on the commentaries, she was a big, big star in Japan and it's easy to see why. She conveys a tremendous amount of emotion and generates great sympathy for her characters. She was outstanding in Tokyo Story. We also have a short appearance by Takashi Shimura as a bad guy.

I was very impressed by how the film made the characters convincing in both the first act where they are college students, and then again nearly 10 years later. The characters have changed not only in appearance but in personality and mannerisms. It made the passing years very convincing.

The film is interesting from both an historical viewpoint and as a pure drama. This was made just a year or so after the Japanese surrender in World War II, and we get a good feel for how the militaristic government in Japan was able to gain the unquestioning support of most of the population. Some things never change, do they?

Highly recommended, although if you are starting out on Kurosawa, you may want to try something from the 1955 to 66 period.

In 1933, in Kyoto, the academic freedom is under attack and the spoiled daughter of Professor Yagihara (Denjirô Ôkôchi), Yukie Yagihara (Setsuko Hara), is courted by the idealistic student Ruykichi Noge (Susumu Fujita) and by the tolerant Itokawa (Akitake Kôno). When the academic freedom is crushed by the fascists, Professor Yagihara and the members of the Faculty of Law resigns from their positions and Noge is arrested.

Five years later, Noge visits Professor Yagihara and his family under the custody of the now Prosecutor Itokawa and tells that he is going to China. Yukie decides to move alone to Tokyo and years later, she meets Itokawa in Tokyo and he tells that Noge is living in Tokyo. Yukie visits Noge and they become lovers.

In 1941, Noge is arrested accused of ringleader of a spy network and Yukie is also sent to prison. When she is released, sooner she learns that Noge died in prison and she decides to move to the peasant village where Noge's parents live and are blamed of being spies by the villagers. She changes her lifestyle and works hard with Madame Noge (Haruko Sugimura) planting rice and earning the respect of her mother and father-in-law. With the end of the war, freedom is restored in the defeated Japan and the flowers blossom again.

Japanese militarists used the Manchurian Incident as a pretext to press the public for support to invade the Asian mainland. Any opposing ideology was denounced as "Red". The Kyoto University Incident a.k.a. Takigawa Incident was one example of this tactic.

Using this historical event and the Japanese tradition as background, Akira Kurosawa released in 1946 the fictional "Waga seishun ni kuinashi" a.k.a. "No Regret for Our Youth" to disclose the lack of freedom in Japan of those years. I do not recall in this moment any other film of this great director with such strong female character. Further, Kurosawa seems to be influenced by Yasujirô Ozu disclosing the relationship of Yukie with her family first and with Noge's parents in the second half of his story. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Não Lamento Minha Juventude" ("No Regret for Our Youth")

The daughter (Setsuko Hara) of a politically disgraced university professor (Denjiro Okochi) struggles to find a place for herself in love and life, in the uncertain world of Japan leading into WWII.

One character was inspired by the real-life Hotsumi Ozaki, who assisted the famous Soviet spy Richard Sorge and so became the only Japanese citizen to suffer the death penalty for treason during World War II. It is this aspect that makes the film particularly interesting, as it reflects on the role Japan played in the world from 1933-1945.

The film as a whole is interesting for being made so soon after World War II. Clearly the budget and production value is limited, but you might expect a country ravaged by war would be too busy with other things to make movies. Not so when you have a man named Kurosawa.

NO REGRETS FOR OUR YOUTH is quite different from the period pieces that made Kurosawa famous in the 1950s and 1960s. Set during WWII, the movie follows Yukie, the spoiled daughter of a liberal professor. She lives an enchanted, comfortable life, yet she is also keenly aware that her life is empty. The thought of following a conventional path (marriage to a steady breadwinner, children) bores her. She is drawn to a social activist named Noge, whose life on the edges of society is dangerous but seemingly thrilling-- and from there, she is taken from her gilded bourgeois life and thrown into the world to find a way to live her life consciously and with purpose.

Kurosawa's oeuvre is generally chided for being too male-focused, but in Yukie, his only female protagonist, he gives us one of his finest heroes. Her transformation over the course of the movie is brilliantly played by Setsuko Hara. Her mannerisms and expressions allow her character to age credibly, more so than other movies I can think of where the audience watches a character age over many years. Yukie is idealistic, but also practical and steadfast.

As a film, NO REGRETS is executed with flair: Kurosawa has yet to develop his own signature style fully at this point in his career. I found a lot of debt to Soviet and European art cinema on display here, especially in the montages. He is not yet the master filmmaker he would become, but this is an astonishing early effort, heartfelt and assured. But it would be a shame to only see this movie as a stepping stone towards better things, for it is a fine piece of work in its own right.