Rhapsody in August

Rhapsody in August
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAkira Kurosawa
Screenplay byAkira Kurosawa
Based onNabe no naka
by Kiyoko Murata
Produced byHisao Kurosawa
Starring
Cinematography
Music byShin’ichirō Ikebe
Distributed byShochiku
Release date
  • 25 May 1991 (1991-05-25)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguagesJapanese and English
Box office¥820 million (Japan rentals)
$9 million (overseas)

Rhapsody in August (八月の狂詩曲, Hachigatsu no rapusodī or Hachigatsu no kyōshikyoku) is a 1991 Japanese film by Akira Kurosawa based on the novel Nabe no naka by Kiyoko Murata. The story centers on an elderly hibakusha, who lost her husband in the 1945 atomic bombing of Nagasaki, caring for her four grandchildren over the summer. She learns of a long-lost brother, Suzujiro, living in Hawaii who wants her to visit him before he dies. American film star Richard Gere appears as Suzujiro's son Clark. The film was selected as the Japanese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 64th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.

Rhapsody in August is one of only three sole-directed Kurosawa movies to feature a female lead, and the first in nearly half a century. The others are The Most Beautiful (1944) and No Regrets for Our Youth (1946). However, Kurosawa also directed most of the female-led Uma (1941), on which he was credited as assistant director.