DramaMysteryWar

Under the Flag of the Rising Sun

A war widow determined to clear the name of her disgraced husband, who was court-martialed for desertion and executed. Official records have been destroyed, and the ministry that distributes benefits continues to deny her a pension. Twenty-six years after the war, she seeks out four survivors of her husband's garrison. Each tells a dramatically different story about her husband's conduct, but she is determined to learn the truth.

Release Date : 1972-03-12

Language :Japanese

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : TOHOShinsei Eigasha

Production Country : Japan

Alternative Titles : Under the Fluttering Military FlagUnder The Flag Of The Rising Sun

Cast

Character Name : Sakie Togashi

Original Name : 左幸子

Gender : Female

Character Name : Sergeant Katsuo Togashi

Original Name : 丹波哲郎

Gender : Male

Character Name : Pvt. Tsuguo Terajima

Original Name : 三谷昇

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mrs. Ochi

Original Name : 中原早苗

Gender : Female

Character Name : Tomoko Togashi

Original Name : 藤田弓子

Gender : Female

Character Name : Lt. Goto

Original Name : 江原真二郎

Gender : Male

Character Name : Tadahiko Ohashi

Original Name : 内藤武敏

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ministry of Health and Welfare

Original Name : 山本耕一

Gender : Male

Character Name : Takeo Senda

Original Name : 三代目中村翫右衛門

Gender : Male

Character Name : Nobuyuki Ochi

Original Name : Shônosuke Ichikawa

Gender : Male

Character Name : Tomoyuki Akiba

Original Name : Takeshi Seki

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : 小林稔侍

Gender : Male

Character Name : Private Sakai

Original Name : 夏八木勲

Gender : Male

Character Name : Self

Original Name : ポール牧

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : 麦人

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Hachizô Fujikawa

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : 北見治一

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Hiroshi Kitasôma

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : 陶隆司

Gender : Male

Character Name : Pvt. Sakai's Wife

Original Name : 藤里まゆみ

Gender : Female

Character Name :

Original Name : Yûko Hideshima

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Kazuko Utsumi

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : 田中世津子

Gender : Female

Character Name :

Original Name : 杉義一

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : 相馬剛三

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : 岡部征純

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Hirotaka Motoyama

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Takashi Matsumoto

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Shigeru Mochimaru

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Jack Maurice

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Satarō Taki

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Shintarô Mishima

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : 梅津栄

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : 三重街恒二

Gender : Male

Reviews

watchman

@watchman

2021-06-23

No big-budget battle picture, this is a small, intimate chamber of moral horrors. Fukasaku spares neither his characters nor his viewers to deliver a personal anti-war film that indicts an entire social system. People are tested to the breaking point, without meaning or goal except to escape a miserable death. By the end of the story, you are invited to conclude that no one who felt the brunt of the war survived it; that in truth the Japanese nation did not survive. Those who stay more or less intact seem frankly superhuman. Prominently featured: sham leadership, ethical vacuity, corruption, betrayal, guilt, and an individual struggle to to avoid being overwhelmed and erased. The flesh-and-blood characters double as social types in a harsh allegory of Japan’s collective refusal to admit unbearable truths. Little by little, the full weight of blame is laid on civil and military authorities. The Japanese Emperor himself is presented with a kind of grisly bar tab: 3.1 million Japanese lives lost to the war. It’s been said with reason that this movie is too accusatory be made in Japan today. Relentless as he may be, you never detect in Fukasaku an attitude either of cruelty or of smug superiority. He acknowledges human weakness, without quite excusing it; but his utmost condemnation is reserved for societies that recklessly sacrifice their citizens in the pursuit of power. Sachiko Hidari’s performance gives the movie its moral center. Though the tone is often surreal, there is never a false note from any of the actors. It’s really great work all round. The 2005 North American DVD release features a clean 16:9 transfer, and some unusually helpful extras.