I had seen a considerable number of Kurosawa Akira’s films by the time I watched No Regrets for Our Youth, his first film made after World War II. It struck me as completely different from his other work. Taking a political subject set in the 1930s, it dealt with Yukie young woman whose father is fired from his professorship because of his anti-fascist views and whose husband is later accused of being a leftist spy and dies in prison. She visits her husband’s farming peasants, who reject her because she is associated with their disgraced son. She carries on helping on the farm despite their rejection of her. Setsuko Hara, usually associated today with the work of Ozu Yasujiro, gives a very different and excellent performance in this fascinating film. – Kristin Thompson