is a 1987 Japanese
documentary film
A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
by director
Kazuo Hara. The documentary centers on
Kenzō Okuzaki
was a former Imperial Japanese Army soldier, writer, actor, anti-monarchist and anarchist. He was known for an attempted assault on Emperor Shōwa, and his starring role in the documentary '' The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On'' (1987).
Biogr ...
, a 62-year-old veteran of Japan's
campaign in New Guinea in the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, and follows him around as he searches out those responsible for the unexplained deaths of two soldiers in his old unit.
Summary
Okuzaki ultimately holds
Emperor Shōwa
, posthumously honored as , was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. He remains Japan's longest-reigning emperor as well as one of the world's longest-rei ...
accountable for all the suffering of the war, declaring "I hate irresponsible people ... the most cowardly man in Japan, is the Emperor." During his protests, he calls police "robots." He painstakingly tracks down former soldiers and officers, persuading them to disclose details about the deaths. His methods often involve verbal and occasional physical abuse, even injuring one individual to the point of bleeding. At one point, Okuzaki states that "Violence is my forte." The people he talks to give different accounts of what transpired almost 40 years earlier, some saying that those killed were executed for
desertion
Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ...
after the war was already over, while others state that they were shot for cannibalizing
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
indigenous people
There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
.
At the end of the war, the Japanese garrison in New Guinea was crammed into a small area and almost completely cut off from food supplies, leading to starvation and eventually to
cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is also well document ...
. According to confessions, indigenous people were
euphemistically called "black pigs" while Allied soldiers were "white pigs"—although one of the interviewed says there was a ban on eating "white pigs". The sister of one of the executed at one point states her belief that the two (low-ranking
privates) were killed so that the officers would have something to eat.
During the course of Okuzaki's investigation a
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
named Koshimizu is said to have issued the order to execute the pair, with a couple of the interviewed also stating that he personally finished them off with his pistol after the
firing squad
Firing may refer to:
* Dismissal (employment), sudden loss of employment by termination
* Firemaking, the act of starting a fire
* Burning; see combustion
* Shooting, specifically the discharge of firearms
* Execution by firing squad, a method of ...
failed to kill them outright, something the captain denies.
Okuzaki also discovers that there has been another suspicious death in his unit and seeks out a former sergeant who is the sole survivor of his
regiment
A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation.
In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...
. After much coaxing and a physical altercation, the sergeant tells him that he personally killed a fellow soldier who had been stealing food and that the corpse was then eaten. He also states that the indigenous were not cannibalized as they were too quick to catch. Instead, Japanese soldiers were marked for death and cannibalized – "the immoral and selfish ones" first. The sergeant states that he only survived because he could make himself useful as a jungle guide, for instance finding fresh water for the other soldiers.
A
title card
In films and videos, an intertitle, also known as a title card, is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of (hence, ''inter-'') the photographed action at various points. Intertitles used to convey character dialogue are referred ...
states that the documentary crew and Okuzaki traveled to New Guinea but that the footage was confiscated by the Indonesian government.
An
epilogue
An epilogue or epilog (from Greek ἐπίλογος ''epílogos'', "conclusion" from ἐπί ''epi'', "in addition" and λόγος ''logos'', "word") is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature, usually used to bring closure to the ...
shows pictures of newspaper headlines where it is revealed that Okuzaki attempted to kill Koshimizu, whom he holds responsible for the deaths of the two soldiers. Not finding him at home Okuzaki settled for shooting Koshimizu's son, who was seriously wounded. It is then stated that Okuzaki was sentenced to 12 years of
hard labor
''Hard Labor'' is the eleventh album by American rock band Three Dog Night, released in 1974. For this album, the band replaced long-time producer Richard Podolor with Jimmy Ienner, who was known for his production work with the Raspberries ...
for attempted murder.
Awards and reception
''The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On'' won numerous awards:
*
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...
(1987)
** Caligari Film Award (Kazuo Hara)
*
Blue Ribbon Awards
The are film-specific prizes awarded solely by movie critics and writers in Tokyo, Japan, established in 1950 by , established under the name of the "Association of Tokyo Film Journalists Award", which was formed mainly by film reporters from th ...
(1988)
** Best Director (Kazuo Hara)
*
Kinema Junpo Awards (1988)
** Readers' Choice Award for Best Film (Kazuo Hara)
* Mainichi Film Concours (1988)
** Best Director (Kazuo Hara)
** Best Sound Recording (Toyohiko Kuribayashi)
*
Rotterdam International Film Festival
International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, focused on independent and experimental films. The inaugural festival took place in June 1972, ...
(1988)
** KNF Award (Kazuo Hara)
*
Yokohama Film Festival
The is an annual awards ceremony held in Yokohama, Japan. Ten films are chosen as the best of the year and various awards are given to personnel. The first festival, held on February 3, 1980, was a small affair by fans and film critics. In 1994, ...
(1988)
** Best Director (Kazuo Hara)
** Best Film
The film was highly praised by other documentary filmmakers.
Errol Morris
Errol Mark Morris (born February 5, 1948) is an American film director known for documentaries that interrogate the epistemology of their subjects, and the invention of the Interrotron. In 2003, his '' The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Li ...
listed it as one of his top 5 favorite films for
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, while
Mark Cousins credited it with reviving his own film-making.
See also
*
Notes
External links
*
''The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On'' reviewat Midnight Eye
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Emperors Naked Army Marches On, The
1987 films
1987 documentary films
Japanese documentary films
1980s Japanese-language films
Films directed by Kazuo Hara
Documentary films about World War II
Documentary films about veterans
Films set in Kobe
Documentary films about Japanese war crimes
1980s Japanese films
Documentary films about anarchism
Republicanism in Japan
Cannibalism in Asia
Works about New Guinea