Based on the International Military Tribunal for the Far East of 1946–48, depicts Japanese prime minister Hideki Tojo as a family man who fought to defend Japan and Asia from western colonialism but was ultimately hanged by a vengeful United States.
Acting
Tsugawa's humanizing portrayal walks a razor's edge.
Direction
Ito's courtroom compositions echo The Passion of Joan of Arc.
Production
Meticulous period recreation with pointed ideological staging.
Director
Shunya Ito
Masahiko Tsugawa
Prime Minister Hideki Tojo
Eiji Okuda
Ichirou Kiyose
Gin Maeda
Sadao Akamatsu
Takehiro Murata
Kiyoshi Itou
Ronny Cox
William Flood Web
Scott Wilson
Joseph Berry Keenan
Gitan Ohtsuru
Yasuo Tachibana
Naho Toda
Akiko Aratani
Aki Maeda
Kimie Tojo
Shoko Aida
Mitsue Tojo
Masaharu Arikawa
Naoki Hoshino
Ryuji Komine
Iwane Matsui
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released amid 1990s Japanese nationalist revisionism, the film sparked diplomatic protests from China and South Korea for minimizing war crimes.
Defense attorney Ichirou Kiyose was portrayed by his actual grandson, Eiji Okuda, creating a strange family legacy performance.
JP
