Production was notably overseen by the Toho union (Nichieien), leading both Kurosawa and lead Hara to distance themselves from the project after the fact even though this was a critical (if controversial) and commercial success. I like to imagine what would have happened if the labor violence that followed in 1948 hadn’t led to renewed managerial power and the crushing of the union movement in post war japan.

Still, we have a fine “idea film” for its time, one that puts a woman’s selfishness (by 1940s standards) on center stage and does not damn her for it. Yukie toils and conforms albeit to the beat of her own drum in a militantly anti-fascist film full of melodramatic shorthand for the importance of what everyone’s doing. There’s some precise and often powerful editing choices I found quite moving, such as the rice farming scene or the college kids marching through the hills, and in a rare instance I didn’t feel the film’s runtime even as the plot’s trajectory takes a late sudden turn. Not essential viewing, but it’s stayed with me these last few days.