Sergeant Katsuo Togashi is killed in the Second World War. Sakie, his widow cannot claim the survivor benefits as he is labelled a deserter. Not knowing why, she sets on a quest to find out what really happened to him by tracking down his fellow troops. Each have a different and grisly story to tell, but they each seem to be different from one another. It isn't until she returns to the first guy she visited, that the truth is revealed.
The main reason for watching this was I wanted to see his early work, as Battle Royale is one of my favourite films. Between numerous Yakuza films he made, he made this anti-war film. Similar to Ichikawa's Fires on the Plains and Kobayashi's The Human Condition: Part 3, it shows the, absolute worst side of the Japanese-American war. Featuring, hunger, depression, and cannibalism in the many flashbacks this film takes us on. Each flashback being worse than the last, the film's primary goal is to tell us how terrible war is. The worst part of this anti-war film is the execution of an American Pilot. As he is about to get beheaded, the film switches to colour, and as the execution goes horribly wrong, he is left there squirming on the floor of the jungle.
As cinematography goes, it doesn't match the peak of 'Fires on the Plains' or 'The Human Condition' but it is still very beautiful to look at, particularly the final scene. The camera-work appears crazy in some places, rotating during the shot, changing from colour to monochrome, tilted shots, but this adds to the 'auterniss' (not a word but should be) of the film, making it distinct and especially stand-out.
TO CONCLUDE
Accessible, realist and very dark. A mysterious anti-war film that not only focuses on the horrors of war but also the future impact on the survivors.
SCORE
82
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