Commencing well-respected Nippon director Kazuo Kuroki's sixth decade behind the camera, "A Boy's Summer in 1945" (literally "A Beautiful Summer in Kirishima") is a lyric, novelistic drama set in the countryside in the last days before Japan's surrender ending WWII. Striking a welcome retro note in its languid pacing and delicate handling of seriocomic ensemble threads, handsome production is a natural for fests. It might also prove a cornerstone for retrospectives or ancillary releases of works by a helmer ("Preparation of the Festival," "Ronin-gai") who's long been appreciated at home but has won just limited attention abroad.

Genres

Cast

Tasuku Emoto

Yoshio Harada

Tokie Hidari

Wakaba Irie

Eri Ishida

Teruyuki Kagawa

Masahiro Komoto

Riho Makise

Junko Miyashita

Hiroko Nakajima

Erika Oda

Susumu Terajima