The Empire of Japan (1982 movie: English subtitles) Japanese view of World War 2
The World War II War in the Pacific told from the Japanese side. (Original title: Dai Nippon Teikoku 大日本帝國 ) The film moves back and forth between scenes of government officials debating policy, and the individual stories of three soldiers: Kokichi is a barber who has been drafted, and rushes through a marriage without a proper wedding before he departs for war. His commanding officer always thinks of his men first. Later, he falls in love with a beautiful brothel owner and as the Americans advance. Egami is a Christian (a suspect minority in Japan), loved by a young girl with tuberculosis. He volunteers and becomes a pilot in the Philippines where he is part of the first Kamikaze raids. After being introduced, he is absent until the second half of the film. This was the first Japanese war film to focus on soldiers as individuals, and apparently the first to express (limited) criticism of the emperor.
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