This is a note for
A Chronological Biography of Akira Kurosawa.
His second film, Ichiban utsukushiku (The Most Beautiful, 1944), sought to depict the wartime labours of young women in a factory making lenses for military use as a thing of unsurpassed beauty.
Despite its being Kurosawa's only film made as part of the war effort, the work features no scenes meant to incite hostility, centering instead in somewhat documentary-like fashion on the fact that even during this dark period, young people were pouring their entire beings into their lives.
Aside from having value as a record of how Japanese lived during World War II, The Most Beautiful can also be viewed as a film of youth.
Not long after its release, Kurosawa married the lead actress, Yaguchi Yôko (Katô Kayo).
Title: The Most Beautiful
Original Title in Japanese: Ichiban Utsukushiku
Running Time: 85 min
Year: 1944
Company: Toho
Writer: Akira Kurosawa
Director of Photography: Kenji Obara
Production Designer: Teruaki Abe
Music: not sure (There are three possibilities: Seiichi Suzuki, Shigeru Kiyota or Noboru Ito.)
Assistant Director(s): Jin Usami, Hiromichi Horikawa
Cast:
Youko Yaguchi (Tsuru Watanabe), Takashi Shimura (Goro Ishida), Takako Irie (Tokuko Mizushima), Ichiro Sugai (Ken Sanada)