The Most Beautiful

In wartime Japan, the women of a precision optics factory are told to raise their output, and the production line is where the film spends its time. Akira Kurosawa follows the volunteer workers led by Tsuru Watanabe (Yôko Yaguchi), who push through fatigue and injury, with Chief Goro Ishida (Takashi Shimura) watching over the floor. It asks young women to give up their health for a quota, and calls that duty.