The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On: And what did you do in the war, daddy?

Reviewer: James van Maanen
Rating (out of 5): ***

I am not sure, given a limited knowledge of film history and my rather circumscribed life, that documentaries come much weirder than The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On. The film won half a dozen awards at various film festivals at the time of its release. Now, twenty years later it comes to DVD. Though it deals with events that happened during WWII, on the island of New Guinea among the Japanese troops just after the official end of war, I suspect it has lost none of its immediacy or--to western eyes--its strangeness.

Directed by Kazuo Hara (over a five-year period), the film follows WWII veteran Kenzo Okusaki as he visits other veterans from his platoon and tries to force them to admit/confess to their part in what happened to certain of his comrades. Okusaki drives around in a small van, papered with his ideas about the guilt of Emperor Hirohito who, still alive at the time, refused to acknowledge or atone for his guilt. Okusaki has already killed one man, served time in prison for that killing, and threatened others. As the documentary unfolds, we see him track, interview, harangue and sometimes beat and pummel his subjects until family members or the police intervene.

The manner in which everyone from participants to police reacts to what is going on--the bowing, the religious reverence, the initial politeness that gives way to violence, the dancing around subjects such as cannibalism, murder, guilt and responsibility--seems at once utterly bizarre and yet is handled as though it could not be more normal. To my eyes, this is culture clash of a very special sort. That Okusaki is obsessed could not be more obvious; he's certain that he possesses a direct line to god. While we agree with what he is asking for (the truth), we can also see how next-to-impossible this will be to obtain. Consequently, we're constantly divided between wanting to see him victorious and hoping he gets locked up.

His final acts are so stupid, shocking and wasteful that I suppose you would have to be Japanese to understand or explain them from any angle other than that of a madman. Or a religious fanatic. Or a man who has been put through the worst experience that can befall a human being--and now looks for expiation in the only way he knows. I won't easily forget this film but can recommend it only to those exceedingly strong of mind and spirit.