Rikugun

I was particularly moved by this film. Although I lived in Japan off and on for much of my adult life, I have had few chances to see anything of the wartime mentality of the Japanese, as this part of recent history has been forgotten or just revised. As one friend of mine once put it, wartime Japan was like North Korea today. People subjugated their own lives as well as the lives of their own children for their country and for the emperor, and found meaning in their lives by doing so. This is shown full face in this film. It is a closed view of the world, amplified by the belief that foreign powers are trying to destroy you and that only your own resilience and the grace of a god-like ruler provide a way forward. To watch these sincere young men being fed into this war machine and knowing the destruction they would wreak, as well as the devastation they would themselves suffer is hard to watch. Many of the generation that followed despised the emperor and everything he stood for, something I often heard expressed by my college host family and by my university professor who refused to stand for the Japan national anthem. There is also a strong strain of nationalism that still views Japan as a victim, and you can see some of the history of this as well.

It is also a rather odd film. Sponsored by the Japanese military at the time, it nevertheless feels like an anti-war film. The patriotism and the fervor expressed throughout the film always appear somewhat foolish, and the fealty to the emperor somewhat rote. The final scene (apparently censored by the military) is simply devastating in the way it shows a mother's emotions and fear trying to come to grips with the pride she is supposed to feel at her son marching off to war.

"Army" is fascinating in its historical context, poignant in its human emotions, and thoughtful in how it threads such a fine line between expressions of patriotism and individuality.

Yes it was a propaganda film but it showed the people as humans and not monsters. The director did a wonderful job and the actors also did well. The propaganda was subtle but still there and allowed the film to pass the censors. What was disconcerting was the disregard for the truth. The headlines of China attacking the Japanese at Shanghai and Japan as the victim. Even though the people were portrayed as human I kept thinking how could they commit Pearl Harbor, Singapore, Philippines, Rape of Nanking, Bataan Death March, the railroad like the movie Bridge over the River Quai, and attacking China in the 1930's. In the movie the soldiers and their families were happy to die for the Emperor and I feel no remorse that we were able to accommodate them. My mother, father, and wife's family were all in WWII and had the acquaintance of the Japanese.

During WWII, Hollywood produced a ton of propaganda films that showed the US military in the best possible light. By and large, the films were built around themes involving individual heroism. In contrast, the Japanese propaganda film "Army" is all about the unimportance of the individual and the importance of undying obedience.

The film is quite obvious in the lessons it's trying to instill in the audience--more obvious than the American version. In fact, this film even lists, several times, the important lessons all soldiers must know. All this is wrapped around a multi-generational story that follows a family from the tumult of the Meiji era through the wars of the late 19th and early 20th century and ultimately to WWII. It also clearly explains the reasons for these wars from the Japanese perspective...but it manages to do it very well and with many wonderful vignettes of this family.

All in all, a very high quality film that is worth seeing so you can gain insight into the psyche of Japan circa 1944. Well made, if obvious.

The Japanese film "Rikugun" (The Army) was produced by the Japanese army during the World War II. As a propaganda film, this film must have been pro-army, pro-war. However, a young director Keisuke Kinoshita tried to include an anti-war message in the film despite of censorship. The mother (played by Kinuyo Tanaka) was trying to find his son in army marching in the last scene. It lasts 7, 8 minutes and the film ends with her close-up. The scene is overwhelming. The film was not appreciated by the army and Kinoshita could not direct the next film at the time. He directed the next film after WWII. The films is not great, but very important. Recently, "Dawn of a Filmmaker: The Keisuke Kinoshita Story" was released in Japan. We see how he comes back to direct films. We also see the last scene of "Rikugun" in this biographic film.

Director Keisuke Kinoshita had to 'toe the line' in the film. Sponsored by the Imperial Japanese Army (I.J.A.), nothing but honor and respect were to be shown to that service. The failure to do your duty to the Emperor and State was inexcusable. The word 'coward' is liberally thrown around at any sign of acting less then a man, any sign of weakness.

The story covers three (3) generations of a Japanese Family and its contributions too the war effort. Starting with the First Sino-Japanese War (1894>1895), Russo-Japanese War (1904>1905) finally the commitment in 1937 to the 2nd Sino-Japanese War which evolved/merged into World War II in 1939. The prelude to the story set in 1944 illustrates this, Japan is being pressed by the Navies of the 'Western Powers'. Japan is always portrayed as a victim. Either not getting its fair share of the spoils of war, nor the proper respect as a player for Empire.

The film ends with the I.J.A. marching off to defend the Empire from the alleged aggression of the Chinese. The Mother runs after Her Son, desiring a last farewell. Is She distraught of His leaving or proud He is finally living up to His duty? With no dialogue save for martial music playing it is left up to the viewer. Though it did not please all those in the I.J.A. it skirted the issue enough to pass the censors.