Given a script by Akira Kurosawa and direction by his mentor, Satsuo Yamamoto , I had high hopes for this movie. Too high, perhaps, as I found it long-winded at 110 minutes, falling into standard tropes, too full of long sequences of people standing around talking, and the aerial scenes.... well, let's just say that any stunt fliers who might have spiced up the proceedings were probably off doing their World War II duty. Everyone is high-minded, gung ho, and enthusiastic, but the central questions of the film, about whther it is the plane or the man who makes things possible, is the matter under discussion for the final third. You can expect that matters will beresolved heroically.
Dealing with the poor prints of Japanese films from this period that are available have removed whatever might be interesting in the camerawork by Taiichi Kankura. A thorough-going disappointment.
