Though plagued by ill health all his life, a young Japanese man is obligated to fulfill his family's longstanding military tradition.
Direction
Kinoshita's resistance buried in patriotic packaging.
Acting
Tanaka's face in the final shot: cinema history.
Writing
Script so subversive the military tried to ban it.
Director
Keisuke Kinoshita
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Imperial Army censors approved the script but nearly banned the finished film after seeing Tanaka's devastating final performance, which transformed 'support our troops' into 'what have we done to our children.'
Kinoshita later admitted he despised the war and smuggled his true feelings into every frame—making this one of history's most successful acts of artistic sabotage.
JP
