Rhapsody in August, Film Analysis

Rhapsody in August is a film about four grandchildren who are in Nagasaki. They are there visiting their grandmother. The children are ages of probably 9-14. An organ that was played by their grandfather plays an important symbolic role in this film. When we are first introduced to the grandchildren, they are sitting around listening to one of the children trying to play the organ. They tell him that it is never going to be in tune. He promises to have it working by the end of the summer. Other activities they do while at their grandmother’s include looking for adventurous things to do around their grandmother’s house. One day they get a letter in the mail saying that their grandmother’s brother is in America and wants her to come and see him because he is sick. The children think this is a wonderful idea because are interested in American life. This is apparent because they wear clothes with American sayings and words. This made me feel that the children view American things as cool. The children realize their grandmother is getting old and maybe this trip would be good for her. She still lives in her somewhat large home all alone and they believe getting out would be exciting for her and them. The children try and talk their grandmother into going, but she refuses. She wants to be here for the anniversary of the Nagasaki bombing. When they send a letter in response to their cousin Clark explaining this, he becomes aware that the death of his uncle was because of the atomic bomb and immediately flies to Nagasaki to join in the remembrance ceremony.
The Grandmother is torn because she has harbored feelings toward Americans after what happened to her husband and the other people of Nagasaki. She isn’t sure she feels comfortable going to America. She also wants to be home to remember those who died in the bombing. She is kind of hostile toward Clark because he is American. She doesn’t know whether to accept him and let him come into her home and feel welcome or not. When he gets there she sees the pain and sorrow on his face and through his actions. This softens her heart and makes her realize that he is not personally responsible for what happened to her husband and many others. She accepts him into her home and lets the barrier between she and Clark subside. In the very end of the movie Clark receives word that his father has died. He immediately returns to the United States. The grandmother feels his pain of losing someone. That night the children awake because of a storm. Their grandmother runs in telling them to get under the blankets. It’s a bomb. The next morning they see their grandmother is missing. She is running toward town. It is as if the sorrow she felt earlier has evoked her memories and she is reliving the day of the atomic bomb.
There are several places this film focuses on. Nagasaki holds a lot of painful memories. This is also a place where the children come to remember their grandfather. It is ironic because when Clark comes, he wants to visit where his uncle died. I believe this was done to show the shared feelings of an “American” and the children who are from Nagasaki. The bare playground symbolizes the relationship the children had with their grandfather and Clark had with his uncle. They were never able to have one. They only have a memory linked to his death to remember him by.
Another place that is important to this film was the grandmother’s house. Many feelings occurred there. There was love between the family, hostility between Clark and the grandmother, and there was also healing that occurred there. For instance the organ symbolizes the relationship between the grandmother and Clark. It starts out broken. Even though it exists it cannot play right. The fact that it was played by the grandfather links it to their relationship. When Clark and the grandmother sit and talk and work out their differences the organ begins to work and is in tune. When the relationship was fixed the organ was fixed. The song about the rose that the eldest boy played on the organ was also symbolic of understanding. When they were at the temple on the memorial day of the atomic bomb, there were ants crawling up a rose. It was as if the song resembled understanding between Clark/ Americans, and the people of Nagasaki.
I believe the theme of this film was to show the differences between Americans and the people from Nagasaki. It was meant to show that even though the Americans were the cause of so much pain and sorrow, Americans are just people too. We have sorrow, trouble, and problems. This realization helps mend the relationship between Clark and the grandma.

Rhapsody in August. Dir. Akira Kurosawa. Perf. Hisashi Igawa and Sachio Sakai. World Films, 1991.