No Regrets for our Youth

 

I love the actress Setsuko Hara. I loved her in Ozu's later movies where she always played a spinster. I didn't know that she worked with even more Japanese directors like Akira Kurosawa. She is at her prettiest in this movie. In No Regrets for our Youth, she plays a daughter whose father is fired for his political beliefs. She falls for a man as well who has been imprisoned for his beliefs and dies a tragic death. If this isn't enough the woman goes to live with her lover's parents. They are going through the nightmare of having their crops destroyed by local people and being called spies. Setsuko remains brave through all these experiences. I liked Hara's performance but I think that she became an even better actress later on. She was more subtle later. Kurosawa made better movies but this was all right.