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Yuki Yukite shingun
aka The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On
Screening: Monday 29 May, 6:30pm
Japan
1987
Dir: Kazuo Hara.
Imamura Productions, Shisso Production, Zanzou-sha/Sachiko Kobayashi
Camera: Kazuo Hara
Editor: Jun Nabeshima
Kenzo Okuzaki
Riichi Aikawa
Masaichi Hamaguchi
Toshio Hara
Shichiro Kojima
Masao Koshimizu
Taro Maruyama
Toshiya Nomura
Shizumi Okuzaki
Eizaburo Oshima
Rinko Sakimoto
Yukio Seo
Iseko Shimamoto
Minoru Takami
Kichitaro Yamada
122 min
16 mm
Colour
Helen Clark might think John Campbell is a little creep, but he is a walk in the park compared to the incendiary 62-year- old seeker of truth Okuzaki Kenzo, a survivor of the battlefields of New Guinea in World War II. Okuzaki gained notoriety by sling-shooting steel pinballs at Emperor Showa to protest against what he considered to be the ruler’s war crimes, and in this film sets out to conduct interviews with survivors and relatives in an effort to discover why some Japanese officers were killing their own soldiers during the closing stages of WWII. If you're tired of the soft news and PR interviews that masquerade as current affairs on our TV screens at the moment (Sunday/60 Minutes anyone?), then this powerful documentary is the sort of reporting you've been waiting for. Fair-Go with fists.
Acclaim and awards at Festivals around the world testify to the striking originality of this hair-raising documentary about Kenzo Okuzaki, the self-appointed scourge of Japanese war criminals. Okuzaki's obsessive pursuit of the guilty violates any number of vital social taboos as he - and the filmmakers - delve into a history that has been deeply repressed in modern Japan. "If Aguirre is the wrath of God, Okuzaki is something like the whiplash of fanaticism. . .'" - J. Hoberman, Village Voice.
"A brave and radical documentary. . . That this picture is very strong is evident. But it is also extremely moving and the end is deeply upsetting. The picture is also beautifully made, a truly controlled example of honest documentary at its best.'" - Donald Ritchie.
Awards: Berlin (Caligari Award), Hong Kong, Edinburgh, Rotterdam (Special Jury Prize), Paris (Cinema de Reel: Grand Prix), San Francisco, Sydney, Melbourne, Wellington, Auckland Film festivals, 1988.
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