Kenzo Okuzaki is a veteran of the Second World War who is on a mission to find out who murdered two soldiers in the same platoon as himself 3 weeks after the war ended. His platoon was based in New Guinea and they felt they had been left there to fend for themselves by the powers that be in Tokyo. Years later he feels strongly that Emperor Hirohito should be brought to justice for his conduct during the war. Okuzaki goes around interrogating former soldiers in his platoon demanding that they tell him who murdered the two soldiers. It is also alleged that the bodies of the soldiers were used for food due to shortages. Okuzaki is so determined to get answers to his questions that he even attacks his former officers in their own homes! Will Okuzaki get to the truth and what will he do then with the information?
This is one of the most bizarre documentaries I’ve ever seen in my life. It had me glued to the screen from the first frame to the last. It is so incredible it literally had me gobsmacked at times. Here we have a man in his 60’s, a lone wolf of sorts determined to seek the truth about an incident that happened after WWII had finished. The viewer finds out he has been thrown into prison on numerous occasions for murdering an estate broker, firing a sling with pachinko balls at Emperor Hirohito, publishing obscene flyers of the Emperor and threatening to murder a former Japanese Prime Minister. Okuzaki is quite clearly an unbalanced and angry individual who is haunted by what he witnessed in New Guinea during the war. No stranger to the police, Okuzaki even goes round in a van covered with writings and a loudspeaker denouncing Emperor Hirohito and the establishment. He does have another side to his personality as he regularly visits the grave of fallen colleagues. It is disturbing hearing about Okuzaki’s platoon which were on the verge of starvation and also suffering from malaria. Two soldiers were killed on false charges of desertion just so that some officers could use their bodies as food. Desperation sometimes makes people do unspeakable crimes and it quite clear that the officers in Okuzaki’s platoon did a heinous act to keep themselves alive.
Although Okuzaki is a little bit mad (might be a bit of an understatement on my behalf here!), he is also a compassionate individual who comforts the families of the two soldiers. The viewer follows him as he confronts the 6 people he believes were responsible for killing the men. Turning up quite unannounced at their homes, he has no qualms in beating up the people if he thinks they are lying or making excuses about their participation in the executions. I couldn’t believe in what I was seeing!! All he wants is for them to tell the truth. When they threaten to call the cops for assault, he even has the balls to say he’ll call them up himself which he does!!! Okuzaki even makes his wife and another individual impersonate the dead men’s families. You have to admire how fearless the man is – he doesn’t give a toss about anybody in authority and he’ll flounce every rule in the book to succeed in his mission. The viewer might not agree with his unorthodox violent methods but they sure as hell got results for him!! Wanting to make people atone for their crimes might seem like his actions are justifiable. Why should some individuals get away with committing war crimes? I liked the fact that the director Kazuo Hara used Okuzaki to show people another side to WWII they might not have known about especially cannibalism.
During the epilogue in which newspaper clippings are shown onscreen, the viewer is given another incident that took place with Okuzaki. Pinning the blame on his former sergeant for giving the command to kill the two soldiers, Okuzaki headed to his home with the intention of murdering him. When he found that he wasn’t home, he tried to kill his son instead. Thankfully he failed in his attempt though he seriously wounded the man. Okuzaki was sentenced to 12 years of hard labour for attempted murder. He died in 2005 some years after being released from prison. He can quite rightly be labeled as one of the biggest anarchists Japan has ever seen and a staunch hater of the Japanese Imperial Family.
This is a fascinating must-see documentary which will open your eyes. Today’s generation could learn a thing or two about why in war there are no winners or losers only victims. Okuzaki had a mission to seek out the truth about a dark chapter in Japanese war history and he never backed down regardless if he got arrested by the authorities. He got results so whether you agree with the way he carried out his action I’ll leave that up to you. Highly recommended.
No trailer but here’s a clip from the movie:
Sadako’s Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
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