The horror of nuclear power is a popular subject in Akira Kurosawa's works, which he has been revisiting for years. Both I live in Fear (1955), a story of a man who is obsessed with influence of atomic attack, and Dreams (1990), an imaginative depiction of the end of the world, are examples of his interpretation of nuclear fear. Rhapsody in August (1991), concerning the same topic as the previous two movies, does not represent the horrifying disaster scene and devastating aftermath directly. The audience can only be aware of the disaster by seeing the city ruins, such as the melted jungle gym in the school where the main character's husband was killed, presumably by the atomic attack, and the destroyed stone statues in the city. However, by depicting different generations' reaction to the disaster, Kurosawa presents a comprehensive and refreshing point of view on the nuclear disaster and tries to find possibilities to walk out of the shadow of the war. As Kurosawa said , " What I would like to convey is the type of wounds the atomic bomb left in the hearts of our people, and how gradually they began to heal". ("Happy birthday, Gabriel Garcia Marquez!" Los Angeles Times)

First, the dynamic of relationships between different generations play an important role in Rhapsody in August. Although the main character, the grandmother Kane, represents the generation (maybe even Kurosawa himself was included in the generation), which is physically and directly affected by the war, she turns out to be the one who defeats the fear. In contrast, the following generation is presented negatively. Kane's children, the grown adults, are depicted as greedy and superficial, who only want to get benefits from their wealthy American relatives. By doing this, Kurosawa argues that the younger generation is truly lost. They are emotionally numb to the national trauma and even the hurt to their own family. The only positive figure in this younger generation in the film is the American-Japanese nephew of Kane, who comes to Japan to apologize for what Kane has been through. Kurosawa must be deliberate in creating the hybrid character to highlight his simple and clear statement on the issue, that the war is between governments and countries, not people. They may have different nationalities, but are still connected by the blood bond. Interestingly, Kurosawa makes Clark, the American Japanese, a character who sympathizes more with the Nagasaki victims than the many Japanese people. Kurosawa is concerned that young people, who have benefited from the booming economic development in post-war period, are emotionally vacuous, lacking the ability to comprehend others.

Another generation Kurosawa included in the film is the young children who only get to know the history through Grandmother's account. Personally, I think Kurosawa sees them as the hope of Japan. Even though they lack knowledge about the history, they still have the opportunities to learn and explore. And Kane's telling of the disaster awakens their curiosity and desire to learn about the history of the bombing.

Kane is the soul and spirit of the film, who is actually the strongest and most positive character in the film, regardless of the fact that her character is initially considered as mentally disordered. The scene of her running in the storm refers to her confronting the heartbreaking memory of the bombing and her overcoming the tragedy (Figure 1). As with many of Kurosawa's later films, Rhapsody in August incorporates fantasy rather than being realistic. And the power of his narration lies in the images themselves. Specifically speaking, she is running in a heavy, even violent, rainstorm with a weak umbrella in her hand. The grandchildren are following her in slow motion. Kane is not only running against the rain, but also time, as I interpret the scene. Because it is the sequence scene of her finally remembering her elder brother Suzujiro, and the traumatic recollection also leads her into a delusional mental state, thus she associates the death of her brother with the death of her husband. And the rain brings her back to the August when the atomic bomb fell from the sky. The scene implicates Kane's final confrontation with the miserable memories, and her courage leads her to walk out of the nightmare. I think it is Kurosawa's most powerful, tragic and inspiring scene. The old crazy lady has transformed as she ran through the rainstorm. She becomes a warrior.

Different generations hold distinct perspectives towards the nuclear disaster. It is necessary to find and achieve balances between different generations. Kurosawa, as a member of the generation which directly interacted with the disaster, points out a severe problem in Japanese society that people are forgetting the history of atomic bomb attacks. It is understandable that many people are trying to forget about the traumatic experience and regain a new life. However, if one doesn't have the courage to face the tragedy directly, one would never be able to overcome it. Furthermore, the education of children is crucial as Kurosawa shows in the movie. If the grandchildren do not get a chance to explore the city of Nagasaki with Kane, they may end up as their parents, numb and cold-blooded, as victims of materialism.

Works Cited