The Most Beautiful is a war film like no other. The film however extends far into Japanese society during WWII, thus it should not be labelled as simply a %u201Cwar film%u201D. After all, the film does not compromise of any war scenes! The obvious paradox of a %u201Cwar film%u201D totally excluding any %u201Cwar scenes%u201D highly contributes to the magnitude of this beautiful piece of filmmaking directed and meshed together greatly by Akira Kurosawa. The film, produced in 1944 (during the war

Pleasant enough; even though it's as black-and-white as propaganda gets, there is a mild amount of dramatic weight and grace throughout, and it's not a chore to watch.

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While beautifully photographed, it's pure propaganda with predictable resolutions to every problem that arises. Kurosawa was never good at representing females, and coupled with the fact that there is a hive mind mentality being espoused, what's left is a cast of very flat characters. Even the few who are singled out are barely more than thin sketches, all with the same ethics, personality traits and ambitions (i.e., fierce devotion to the imperialist cause). Lovely to look at, but a mess.

The last two scenes of this film are exquisite, and give a sense of what Kurosawa was capable of. However, these scenes are preceded by 80 minutes of melodrama, ironically draining all the actual drama from the story. Most of the film is overly contrived, with the narrative bouncing predictably from one extreme to another. This is worth seeing as a curiosity from early in Kurosawa's career, but isn't worth much on its own.

Everyone remembers John Ford's and Hitchcock's WWII films - but what about Kurosawa? A rally call for lower-middle-class Japanese women, it lacks suspense (read: drama) and falls flat for rewatchability. However, it is probably one of the more beautiful propaganda films after Riefenstahl, and is worth watching once for fans of Kurosawa's work.

inspiring ending, and there's nothing wrong with loving your country. this is a propaganda film, but it has a soul.

"The Most Beautiful" shares the weaknesses of most propaganda films, but it is interesting and moving in the picture it draws of traditionally-raised Japanese girls doing important work during wartime, motivated by duty and shame.