I loved this film for all the reasons already advanced on this board. A story about two lovers who have only each other in a devastated, corrupted, and occupied society is universal in every sense.
I think Kurosawa's postwar films are especially interesting from a political point of view. All of his films had to pass U.S. censors, and so his political comments are shrouded in symbolism and cinematic sleight of hand. American occupation authorities doubtlessly viewed this film as a simple tale of struggling lovers. But a closer look reveals much more.
"Yuzo" is a war veteran down on his luck. Millions of Japanese war veterans returned home to a society ashamed of their service and anxious to forget their failure. "Masako" is his lover but their future together is rendered difficult by their mutual poverty.
Kurosawa gives us glimpses of pathetic war orphans, destitute women forced into prostitution, and a new economic oligarchy made wealthy by black markets. The ruins of Tokyo are presented only on distant horizons or as incidental background, but the damage inflicted by the 20th U.S. Air Force is clearly implied. None of these elements would ever pass U.S. censorship had they been essential to the story.
Postwar Japanese audiences. however, doubtlessly recognized these subtle references to their occupied and devastated country. That Kurosawa could express these matters without provoking American censorship is itself a testament to his artistic skills.
