The Most Beautiful directed by Akira Kurosawa (1944)
Shot during World War II, The Most Beautiful, is nothing more than an ode to the girls who dedicated themselves to their country during the war. This was not shown in the United States because it was said to be anti-American. There was one line in a song the girls sang about destroying America. I guess that is pretty anti-American but it also was made in Japan during a war against America. But the story is not about the war, it is about a group of girls who want to do their part for their country, take on very difficult and important tasks, and when the quotas are raised they want equal treatment as the men. The girls spend the entire film working themselves to death despite illness, fatigue, being away from their families, and worse. We don’t get to see much of Kurosawa’s direction in this film, which has somewhat of a documentary feel, but the story is good, if not all that exciting, and this is interesting because it is the second film Kurosawa made.
