Rhapsody in August (1991) poster
Poster: TMDB
FilmPG1991

Rhapsody in August

Drama

An elderly Nagasaki hibakusha spends a summer caring for her four grandchildren, whose curiosity about the 1945 bombing stirs buried memories and moral questions. When an American nephew from Hawaii visits, the family confronts grief, guilt, and the possibility of reconciliation across generations. From TMDB

23 reactions from 1 source (Bluesky) · newest Aug 15, 2026 · last updated Oct 15, 2026 · How this works

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23 of 23 · most liked first
  • Unseen Japan @unseenjapan.comBluesky · Aug 8, 2025

    Today marks the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, which devestated large swaths of the city, killing around 70,000 in the initial blast. If looking to reflect, Kurosawa's 2nd to last film, Rhapsody in August (1991), is about generational trauma/the question of reconciliation. Cont.

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  • Peter Labuza @labuzamovies.comBluesky · May 12, 2026

    Happy The Academy showed Kurosawa's RHAPSODY IN AUGUST (nobody knows who owns the rights!)—a film more in the vein of Hou Hsaio-Hsein in form and theme as children learn about the horrors of Nagasaki through those who lived it—and then Richard Gere (made the same year as PRETTY WOMAN) shows up.

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  • optiMSTie @optimstie.bsky.socialBluesky · Mar 1, 2024

    Same, same, same. Don't get me wrong, I love Dodes'ka-den, Dersu Uzala, Kagemusha, Ran, Dreams, and Madadayo (and mostly like Rhapsody in August), but that B&W lineup is absurdly, impossibly strong. It was to the point where Kurosawa's worst movie could be described as merely excellent.

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  • Cezary Jan Strusiewicz @ostrichson.bsky.socialBluesky · Mar 30, 2025

    Kurosawa Month Day 30 🎬 Film: Rhapsody in August (1991) (Yeah, we're doing two movies in one day because I took a break on Kurosawa's birthday.) So, uuum... hello, American actor Richard Gere. What the hell are you doing in an Akira Kurosawa movie?

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  • M-Rob @mirobin.bsky.socialBluesky · Aug 30, 2025

    Does this include films about the reverberatios of the events years later? If so, Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959) of course, and also Akira Kurosawa’s late-career film Rhapsody in August (1991)

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  • triplebatman @triplebatman.comBluesky · Jul 24, 2024

    Seven Samurai isn't a bad film but Kurosawa has much better and less appreciated films, imho High and Low, Rhapsody in August, and Ikiru are my personal underrated faves

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  • Cody Coyne (he/him) @unimuse.bsky.socialBluesky · Aug 6, 2026

    Attended Manchester's Hiroshima Peace Day Commemoration, which brought to mind Kurosawa's "Rhapsody in August" - I think a sadly underappreciated film. youtu.be/5WZ8GhDpbwE?...

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  • Jens Rasmussen @jensrasmussen.bsky.socialBluesky · Sep 21, 2024

    Nok "Rhapsody in August", men den er på en underlig, hjertevarm måde hårdere end hans kriger-film, så det er egentlig ikke en jeg har travlt med at se igen, uden god grund. Lidt ligesom "Grave of the Fireflies".

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  • Read Japanese Literature @readjapaneseliterature.comBluesky · Aug 12, 2024

    Kiyoko Murata (1945- ) while raising kids. She won the 1987 Akutagawa Prize for "In the Pot" (translated by Kyoko Iriye Selden), which Akira Kuroswa later adapted into the film Rhapsody in August. Her only novel available in English is A Woman of Pleasure (translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter).

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  • Stephen Aloysius Katze @steppencat.bsky.socialBluesky · Jul 21, 2024

    Thinking about how one time in the 90s I was flipping through channels and ended up watching some random foreign movie that haunted me for years, so decades later I googled around to figure out what I watched and it was Rhapsody in August.

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  • optiMSTie @optimstie.bsky.socialBluesky · Jan 20, 2026

    No, you're thinking of another late-era Kurosawa movie, Rhapsody in August. It was alright, definitely not upper-tier Kurosawa. Ran was the feudal Japan retelling of King Lear, and it is *dope as hell.*

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  • KaoticPersona @kaoticpersona.bsky.socialBluesky · Sep 3, 2025

    The joys of working my job: I just discovered the movie Rhapsody in August. It is an Akira Kurosawa film... With Richard Gere in it?!??!? Adding this to my watch list.

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  • Disco Bones @joncinemadual.bsky.socialBluesky · Mar 15, 2025

    Cinema Dual’s Something Like a Filmography series on the films of Kurosawa has reached its penultimate entry. Today. @belownirvana.bsky.social look at Rhapsody in August. cinemadual.com/2025/03/15/s...

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  • YTSL @ytsl.bsky.socialBluesky · Dec 15, 2024

    "Rhapsody in August" was the 2nd Kurosawa film I viewed. I remember a shot of ants making their way along a tree branch -- and it was... mesmerising. The same way that "Ran" featured all those shots of cloudy skies that got me thinking of John Constable and the capturing of moods that way.

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  • optiMSTie @optimstie.bsky.socialBluesky · Jun 28, 2024

    Mmhmm. Even in a lesser work like Rhapsody in August, you still have a tone and a texture that you don't get with other movies. And High and Low... gah. I remember *gasping* when the movie employed color.

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  • Borrowing Tape @borrowingtape.bsky.socialBluesky · Apr 19, 2024

    Official poster for this year's Cannes Film Festival, featuring a scene from Akira Kurosawa’s RHAPSODY IN AUGUST. The festival will take place May 14 - 25, 2024. #filmsky #cannes #film

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  • optiMSTie @optimstie.bsky.socialBluesky · Mar 12, 2024

    I really wanted to say Rhapsody in August on general principle because it's a Kurosawa film, but it's a lower-tier Kurosawa. That's not to say that it's BAD; even lower-tier Kurosawa is terrific. But if we're talking overall consistent strength? Probably Primal Fear just edging out Days of Heaven.

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  • Vincent Comeau @vincentcomeau.bsky.socialBluesky · Aug 15, 2026

    Rhapsody in August by Akira Kurosawa. I understand the controversies surrounding the film, but at the same time, having watched sufficient Japanese media, I see what Kurosawa wanted to do, but he could have presented it more clearly. While the grandma is the focus, the 4 kids steal the film. #film

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  • mad2001.bsky.social @mad2001.bsky.socialBluesky · May 13, 2025

    Storyline: An elderly woman living in Nagasaki, Japan tells her four visiting grandchildren about the atomic bomb that fell in 1945, and how it killed their grandfather. Polish movie poster for Akira Kurosawa's Rhapsody in August artwork by Waldemar Swierzy (1991).

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  • Tom Curren @tomoc.bsky.socialBluesky · Dec 29, 2024

    A shot in the dark, but I'm trying to track down the Kurosawa film RHAPSODY IN AUGUST, which literally doesn't seem to exist on digital - anyone anywhere on Bluesky have a lead?

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  • Movierooms: Cinema Tycoon @madpumpkins.bsky.socialBluesky · May 13, 2024

    🌿D-1 Cannes Film Festival 🎞 Hi Movielovers, it’s me Gaspard, tomorrow is the opening of Cannes Film Festival ! This year, for the official poster, director Akira Kurosawa is in the spotlight, since the image is from Rhapsody in August ⭐️ What’s your favorite movie from him ? ✨

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  • BYTESEU @byteseu.bsky.socialBluesky · Apr 20, 2024

    Kurosawa Akira film 'Rhapsody in August' featured in Cannes festival poster https://www.byteseu.com/43191/ The organizers of the Cannes Film Festival have unveiled the official poster for this year’s edition. It features a scene from the late Japanese director Kurosawa Akira’s movie based on …

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  • Kris Vyas-Myall @krisvm.bsky.socialBluesky · Oct 22, 2023

    JW: Rhapsody in August (1991) and I think it is easily my favourite Kurosawa film. Richard Gere's presence is a little weird but I think it works thematically. Rather than big action, he focuses really small and on how characters are affected by one event for decades.

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Official Trailer

Top Cast

Sachiko Murase actor profile photo
Sachiko Murase
Kane (The Grandmother)
Hidetaka Yoshioka actor profile photo
Hidetaka Yoshioka
Tateo
Tomoko Otakara actor profile photo
Tomoko Otakara
Tami
👤
Mieko Suzuki
Minako
Mitsunori Isaki actor profile photo
Mitsunori Isaki
Shinjiro
Hisashi Igawa actor profile photo
Hisashi Igawa
Tadao
Toshie Negishi actor profile photo
Toshie Negishi
Kane's daughter
Chōichirō Kawarasaki actor profile photo
Chōichirō Kawarasaki
Noboru

Cast from TMDB.

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