‘Rhapsody in August’ (PG)

When a senile grandparent espouses some ridiculous, or racist, or paranoid point of view, you have to nod and let it go. That may be the best reaction to have with Akira Kurosawa's "Rhapsody in August." The Japanese director, who is 81 this year, seems to have lost his artistic marbles. Perhaps we should just look the other way.

Except Kurosawa, who from all reports seems to have his wits about him, would hate such condescension. So, plain and simple, "Rhapsody" is mediocre pap. It's nothing compared with his previous work. You'd do better seeing his classics, such as "Seven Samurai," "Ikiru," "High and Low" and "Throne of Blood," currently in a retrospective at the American Film Institute.

Aside from its artistic shortcomings, "Rhapsody" is politically inflammatory. Set in the present day, it's about four Japanese children who visit their grandmother Kane (Sachiko Murase) in Nagasaki for the summer. As the anniversary of the atomic attack draws near, they learn about the bomb's deadly legacy. Their grandfather died in the blast and Kane has seethed with quiet resentment ever since. Every August, she pays tribute to her dead husband at a religious shrine.

In a separate development, a long-lost, Japanese-American brother of Kane's is ailing in Hawaii. He wants to see his sister before he dies. There were at least 10 siblings in her family, she explains to her grandchildren, but she doesn't remember him. Besides, she wants to wait until the anniversary's over before she pays anyone a visit. When one of the children sends a letter to that effect, it starts a controversy. Apparently, neither the brother nor his son (Richard Gere!) knew Kane's husband died at Nagasaki. Gere flies over immediately to convey apologies to his aunt. He apologizes not only for the death, but for the crimes of the United States.

And there's the rub. Kurosawa takes it as given wisdom that the United States arbitrarily decided to bring death and destruction on his innocent, peace-loving nation. Contrite Gere completes that conceit. There is no mention of Pearl Harbor and subsequent Japanese aggressions.

Perhaps the movie's about teaching the young about the tragedies of the past, and burying enmity over the atomic bomb. But it's more likely to trigger more enmity with American audiences.

In addition, the film's didactic air makes it feel like a glorified after-school special. Kurosawa's direction of the grandchildren is stilted and unrealistic. They never bicker, they just move around in dippy unison like an eight-legged, goody-two-shoes being. Apparently foggy on their country's dramatic modern history, they suddenly pursue information about Nagasaki with adult enthusiasm. They're following Kurosawa's will, not their own.

There are some moments when flashes of the old Kurosawa come back, with visually arresting scenes of torrential rain and the all-powerful elements. The most effective moment is when the four kids come upon a children's climbing frame, gnarled and twisted from the 1945 blast, but retained as a gruesome monument. This scene does more for Kurosawa's purposes than the rest of the movie. A younger, wiser Kurosawa might have realized that.