At the end of WWII, Japanese doctor Akagi searches for the cure for hepatitis in the prisoner-of-war camp.
Direction
Imamura's unflinching eye finds beauty in filth and dignity in depravity.
Acting
Emoto's Akagi: obsessive, pathetic, weirdly heroic. A performance of magnificent contradictions.
Cinematography
Sweat-drenched frames that you can almost smell through the screen.
Director
Shōhei Imamura
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Imamura made this as his 'final' film before a false retirement; it's his war trauma reckoning disguised as vulgar comedy, typical of the Japanese New Wave's refusal of patriotic martyrdom narratives.
The real hepatitis epidemic in occupied Japan killed more than the atomic bombs; Imamura's father died of it, making Akagi's futile quest secretly personal.
JP
