this is the best film i've seen. it emotes and moves you. Idealistic and simplistic (how can you avoid them in a two-hour media) but still captures the essence of Tokyo pre-economic boom and Japan's march toward materialism. Hope, innocence, inter-dependence, both individually and societally, are wonderfully captured in this film. Acting for the roles of Ippei, Tomoe, Roku, and Junnosuke are superb. The background music is excellent. Memorable scenes: Ippei and friends flying airplane, Roku and Ippei meeting for the first time and exchanging greetings in Roku's Tohoku dialect, Ippei noticing Roku crying in her room the first night at the Suzuki's and Ippei asks, "What happened? Do you have a stomach-ache?" Ah, the innocence lost. Where have you gone?
