This affectionate paean to young love is also a frank examination by Akira Kurosawa of the harsh realities of postwar Japan. During a Sunday trip into war-ravaged Tokyo, Yuzo and Masako look for work and lodging, as well as affordable entertainments to pass the time.

While the Italians were busy bringing neorealism to the world stage, Kurosawa was shooting on the bombed streets of Tokyo, sifting for shards of hope amid the post-war gloom. One Wonderful Sunday finds him at his most optimistic, most notably in the famous fourth-wall-breaking plea for compassion.