This newest addition to the Eclipse line is a perfect demonstration of the unique purpose it serves in giving well-deserved attention to important but lesser known films by one of Japan's greatest directors.
As hard as these runaway melodramas may be to take at face value, their heart is in the right place as they seek to lift our weary spirits to a higher plane.
Though uncomfortable and even chilling at times, Kurosawa's second film, a wartime propaganda piece, shows evidence of a young master director in the making.