Can we support Akira Kurosawa for making The Most Beautiful? It is a clear and obvious propaganda film, in support of imperialist Japan. Kurosawa's debut film, Sanshiro Sugata, was a tribute to Japan's spiritual and traditional values. Whilst no doubt made because it espouses those patriotic sentiments, at least Sanshiro Sugata functions as a sports drama more than anything with a message. The same cannot be said for The Most Beautiful. It is filled with propaganda songs and pledges, and explicit calls to fight the British and Americans. Propaganda is not always bad (art is inherently political) but state-sanctioned, pro-imperialist propaganda is undoubtedly insidious. Kurosawa made this film when he was in his 30s, and a man of his genius and whose later works possess deep understandings of war, surely cannot have been naïve during this period. Obviously there was limits on what could be made under the political climate of the time, but does that justify it?

In Kurosawa's defence, The Most Beautiful is not militaristic propaganda nor a direct promotion of Japan's crimes, but merely a depiction of women working in a factory. It's about their ridiculous dedication to the war effort, and their need to work harder to the point of working themselves sick. The film is filled with signs and slogans, and songs about dying for Japan. These are presented with no irony or introspection. Perhaps this is why we can forgive Kurosawa. He was never a very political filmmaker and his presentation, however profound in his later films, is pretty much to be taken at face value. His films support individualism and righteousness, not nationalistic collectivism. Therefore The Most Beautiful feels more like a film made pokerfaced and meaningless than anything made with truly evil intent. It feels like Kurosawa made the film he had to make, and he was rather ambivalent about the politics. As shown in his later films, Kurosawa was interested in individual human depth, not broader discussions on society.

The Most Beautiful is not typical Kurosawa. It is more static and centred on women, which is rare in his filmography. Still, there are signs of his touch, screenwipes being the most obvious. There's a fairly fun volleyball match that Kurosawa shoots like an action scene. The people are often in groups, forming nationalistic identity through collective belief, which seems like practice for Kurosawa's later infamous knack of being able to film masses of people and create personality through anonymity. Somehow the film manages to sneak in a human dimension to joyless work in service of imperialism. I wonder how comforting and understanding this film seemed to women in wartime Japan. I suspect the melodramatic scenes of tears and sacrifice may have seemed too fake, but perhaps the skill of Kurosawa's technique and the sympathy for women presented might have masked the propaganda well for a less demanding audience, especially an audience bombarded with more overt propaganda. The Most Beautiful is effective and distinctive, because it creates compelling characters, even though they are shallow and thinly defined. As silly as this slice of propaganda is, The Most Beautiful is a little heartwarming. It may have bad intentions, but it's actually a decent film, and honestly a more benign form of imperialist propaganda. It's an enabler, not an abuser. Take that however you want.

Akira Kurosawa Ranked