One Wonderful Sunday (1947)

Shortly after the end of WWII, a young - and pretty broke - couple try to spend their Sunday together. "Yuzo" (Isao Numasaki) comes across more as the half half empty sort of fellow, but his girlfriend "Masako" (Chieko Nakakita) quite the reverse as they realise they have but ¥35 to last them an entire day! This is not a day just for frivolities. The two are determined to find somewhere where they can live together, and their budget (or lack of) sends them into bomb-damaged and less sanitary areas of their city that the they would ever be prepared to consider normally. An encounter with some baseball playing kids; some damaged cakes; a would-be landlord; an ideal new home they could never afford (that looks as if it is made of balsa wood!) and some dancing all work with two really strong and engaging lead performances to create an almost magical illustration of their day together. They fall out, make up, separate; it rains (always seems to in Kurosawa films) and there is a lovely accompaniment from Schubert to help knit the whole thing together. As with so many real relationships, the use of dialogue is sparing and the use of gesture and implied meaning proves especially effective as the love story moves along - at times earnestly, at times humorously. I wouldn't say the characters evolve, nor does their love - it is much the same at the end as it was at the beginning, and that's also quite enjoyable to appreciate. This isn't really a film about anything distinct actually happening, it's an observation of young love that is trying to blossom, but there just isn't quite enough sunlight yet.