Après la pluie

A drama by Takashi Koizumi from a scenario written by "Akira Kurosawa" shortly before his death and made as a tribute to him, No where near as good as it would have been with Kurosawa behind it but fine nonetheless, especially the cinematography which was gorgeous. Any fan of Akira Kurosawa will want to see this. The mixture of calm cinematographic techniques and a few more dynamic elements is perfectly balanced. It was a roller-coaster of emotion, but still left me feeling happy despite some of the more dramatic events. It's the ultimate underdog story of tragedy, triumph, and even a few laughs and there are too many shots worth recalling, too many details worth recalling. If you want a peaceful and beautiful samurai film, do yourself and your immortal soul a favour; this movie is for you, would really recommend it, this one is a lesser known Japanese gem.

I stumbled upon this film by accident and I'm glad I did. The plot is simple, a master-less samurai and his wife are staying at an inn during a rain storm. Everyone is waiting for the rain to end and the river to go down so they can cross. The samurai is a gentle man who tries to help everyone pass the time much to his wife's chagrin. This is a sweet gentle film where nothing much happens and yet we get to know a bunch of very good people and learn a lesson about the value of kindness and honesty. A winner from start to finish.

A samurai and his wife search to find happiness with themselves, their relationship, and their station as they weather the disillusion of their past and current circumstances.

Written by Akira Kurosawa and directed by Takashi Koizumi after Kurosawa's death. This is a breathtaking reflection of Kurosawa's early and later storytelling sensabilities. But it is a very complex film, one that upon initial viewing may defy the viewers expectations of the samurai genre and seem simplistic, overly long, or as one reviewer described: unexciting.

This film reminds me very much of Red Beard, another Kurosawa story that while set in feudal Japan is not necessarily a samurai film.

Rating 9/10

It's been raining for a while. No one can cross the river, the travelers at the inn are short-tempered and grouchy. Ronin Akira Terao comes back with a feast for everyone. He apologizes to his wife, Yoshiko Miyazaki. He fought some duels for money for the feast, and promises never to do it again. She forgives him with the loving, resigned air of the mother of a good child who gets into scrapes. When the rain stops, it will be some time before the river is passable. Terao goes for a walk and encounters half a dozen local samurai about to fight a duel. He chides them gently and disarms them. The local lord, Shiro Mifune rides up, calls them idiots, and thanks Terao. Then Mifune sends for Terao, to offer him the job of fencing master. This riles up the locals, who think the job should go to one of them.

Akira Kurosawa had written the script and finished pre-production just before he died. His heirs made the film under the direction of Takashi Koizumi, Kurosawa's regular assistant director since 1980. With its rough and kindly good humor and natural beauty, this doesn't look like any movie of Kurosawa's -- although his Capra-esque ONE WONDERFUL SUNDAY, more than half a century earlier, is cut from the same cloth. I think that after years of epics and fantasies, Kurosawa wanted to make a simple comedy about good people who smile and make jokes and laugh. I doubt it would have looked like this, but I think he would have been pleased with the result.

Kurosawa was very interested in stories about older men facing their destiny. Most of his films from Kagemusha and on deal with this in some way. Ame Agaru is another story that deals with the topic.

Almost like a play at times, Ame Agaru takes it's time and is all the better for it. There are some excellent sword fights and formal duels in the film but they are not the focus of the film. There's a bit of time depicting the main character silently practicing his sword work in the woods that might bore a number of viewers.

Is this a Kurosawa film? Yes, in that I could easily see him directing this story. There are a number of similarities to his last film, Madadayo. No, in that the direction here is sort of mundane. Kurosawa's distinctive eye is missing. There's a TV movie quality that's sort of unusual for a film like this. However, the actors and the story really do carry this film over and while it's not a masterpiece, it's not a waste of time either if you know what you are getting into.