Children of Hiroshima (Japan, 1952)

Six years after the atomic bombing of 06 August 1945, the school teacher Takako Ishikawa returns to Hiroshima on her vacation to visit friends and to honor her parents that died in the bombing. Takako was raised by her uncle and aunt. While in her hometown she stays with her friend, Natsue Morikawa, who has become infertile due to the side effect of the A-bomb. While walking along the destroyed city, she sees a former family friend, Iwakichi, who worked with her father, and is almost blind and has become a beggar. 

Children of Hiroshima is not for the faint-hearted. It's such a dark and bleak portrayal of post-war Japan that it gets under your skin and makes you beg for some slim light and the end of the tunnel. Kaneto Shindo (Onibaba, Kuroneko) directed it with the economic help from Japan Teachers Union who wanted a film based on first-person testimonies, though they were in the end unsatisfied by the end result and wanted more political criticism and less focus on personal stories and the struggle of a few individuals. In my opinion, Shindo made the wiser choice in telling a story about how the bomb affected the people on a much more focused and relatable level. 

The music, made by Akira Ifukube who later would go on to write iconic tunes for the Godzilla-franchise, further deepen the somber atmosphere with a heartbreaking and grim soundtrack.

Genre: Drama

The Life of Oharu (Japan, 1952)

A fifty-year-old prostitute, no longer able to attract men, looks back on her sad life. Once a lady-in-waiting at the imperial court at Kyoto, Oharu fell in love with, and became the lover of, a man below her station. They were discovered, and Oharu and her family were exiled. For Oharu there followed a life filled with one sorrow and humiliation after another.

Let's turn back the clock to 1952, a time that's often referred to as the Golden Age of Japanese cinema. Kenji Mizoguchi was one of the directors that made some of his most well-known pictures during this period, such as Ugetsu (1953) and Street of Shame (1956). He also made The Life of Oharu, a tough story about a woman who's life never seems to go in the right direction. Not much joy can be found in this tale, but if that isn't a problem for you, then you have a memorable classic in front of you.

Genre: Drama

Ikiru (Japan, 1952)

Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for thirty years. His wife is dead and his son and daughter-in-law, who live with him, seem to care mainly about Watanabe's pension and their future inheritance. After learning he has stomach cancer and less than a year to live, Watanabe attempts to come to terms with his impending death.

Ikiru (lit. trans. To Live) takes you through the whole process of a man's last days in life, the fear, the acceptance and the repenting. In the lead role we have one of Akira Kuosawa's favorite actors; Takashi Shimura (Stray Dog, Rashomon) who does a great job of portraying a broken man on the verge of death. It's a study of both loneliness and hope, and doing what's right in your heart. I think the best effect this film can have is that the we the viewers start to value what's important in life, and not waste the short time we've been given.

Genre: Drama