Taiyô wo nusunda otoko

A high school science teacher steals plutonium and builds his own atomic bomb. A game of cat and mouse arises between him and a hard-nosed police detective.

Utterly preposterous stuff, but has moments of great fun, and an unusual East-meets-West sensibility, presumably because of being made entirely in Japan by Japanese folks but written by Paul Schrader's brother Leonard, who inserted some peak-1979-Hollywood car chases and action scenes.

It's not a great film, but it's got a lot going for it, and if you like strange Japanese films you should definitely check it out, as it's hard to think of anything else quite like it.

6½/10.

A highschool science teacher decides to make an atomic bomb in his apartment. The opening half hour of this movie is erratic, making it difficult to predict where the story is going or what will ultimately happen. A nice blend of dark thrills and black humor is what makes this one special. It juxtaposes tonal shifts in convincing fashion. The protagonist is an unorthodox mad scientist who is very likable and charismatic. There are some very interesting sequences in this, like the lengthy plutonium experiments and bomb construction. Most of the film is realistic but even the more wildly, intentionally unrealistic moments are entertaining in their craziness. There are also some subtleties that one will miss if they are not paying close attention. Performances are great and the ending is ballsy.

Some of the criticisms that I've read for this film have annoyed me. It's like most of the negative reviews are coming from people who are demanding that every element of the film be easily categorized into tiny little boxes of familiarity and traditional filmmaking styles. Take the protagonist's philosophy as one example. We get a very good feel for his character throughout the film. He's an unhinged yet likable science teacher, but according to some critics he's apparently not "properly developed" because he doesn't come out and tell everyone exactly why he made the bomb. Well, why does he need a reason anyway? I thought one of the points of the film was that he didn't know what to do with the bomb after he made it. He even asks the radio DJ to poll her listeners so he can get some ideas! Come on, people. Did you really want him to make a long-winded nationalistic or philosophical speech at the end? I'm glad he didn't. In fact, I find it thought-provoking and refreshing that I have difficulty identifying exactly why he did it. And guess what? That was probably the WHOLE POINT OF THE MOVIE!

Another ridiculous criticism is one of those oft-parroted dumb ones that I'll never understand. Due to the black humor and unrealistic moments, there are tonal shifts throughout. Of course, viewers who need their movies carbon-copied in Hollywood fashion will have a problem with this because "the movie doesn't know what it wants to be." Yeesh! Okay, do you really want every movie to be easily categorized as a "comedy" or a "drama" or a "thriller"? Do you really want every movie to be easily categorized as "realistic" or "unrealistic"? Sure, let's just eliminate genre-benders all together and we'll be left with a bunch of boring, predictable films. But at least we can feel good about ourselves because then we can properly categorize them into tiny little boxes. Listen people, the tonal shifts are one reason this film is fun to watch. The same is true with the wild shifts between realism and unrealism. The final half-hour (that everyone complains about) gave me more surprises than the last three dozen "single genre" films I've seen recently.

This film refuses to limit itself, and that's why it's so entertaining and impressive.

Make no mistake; this is an extremely violent film. At times, it is even ridiculously violent. There are no protagonists in this film, as all of the main actors and characters have severe limitations for being likeable. The Science teacher who builds a home-made atom bomb is psychotic and cruel. His love? Interest, a female DJ is self-centered and ridiculously irresponsible for her thirst for recognition, and the cop who doggedly tries to trap this fiend is immune to bullets, or so it would seem. Despite these drawbacks, the film is a perverse fantasy piece that easily entertains you for 90 minutes. There are some genuine moments of suspense and tension, but the excessiveness of the violence tends to lessen the impact of the entire film. Not a bad try.

By many accounts, Kazuhiko Hasegawa's second feature film is a bold film, unusually flamboyant for its time (not by Kurosawa standards), and is a milestone in mainstream Japanese cinema. "The Man who stole the sun" was based on a story treatment written by an American screenwriter, Leonard Schrader (of "The Yakuza" fame and the brother of filmmaker Paul Schrader) who lived in Japan at the time. Hasegawa was hired to adapt this idea into a film based on his success from his first feature film, "The Youth Killer" which was hailed as a bold insight into the psyche of a young serial killer. It is interesting to note that Hasegawa was a Hiroshima native who suffered radiation poisoning when he was in his mother's womb as result of the dropping of the atomic bomb (which provides one of the pivotal themes in the film). The starring role of Makoto, the science teacher was given to the Japanese pop diva, Kenji Sawada (also known by his fans as "Julie")whose acting shines on par with his singing. This conscious casting decision (considering how Sawada was at the peak of his solo singing career) characterizes the flamboyant nature of this film. The role of the police officer, Yamashita who chases Makoto toe to toe throughout the film was given to the late Bunta Sugawara (who was known for playing gangster roles) is very over the top, but is a great contrast to the character of Makoto. The plot is quite straight forward a socially awkward science steals plutonium to build his own atomic bomb and threatens the government. Makoto's motivation to use his creation is fittingly unclear and bears some resemblance to a Travis Bickle (a character created by Paul Schrader). The pacing of the film (it is somewhat long, slightly above two and a half hours), somewhat reflects the motivation of Makoto character as the film progresses, the pacing becomes slower (Unusual, given the elaborate car chase shot on location in the middle of Tokyo was the film's climax). These unusual aesthetic choices makes this cult-classic very entertaining in spite of its shortcomings. The film was financially unsuccessful because of it's rather insensitive advertising tag line, (Direct translation "Julie is tough as an atomic bomb") but has gathered a cult following and is considered by some critics as one of the best mainstream Japanese films ever made. This film overall is definitely worth it's praise.

The best thing that can be said about The Man Who Stole The Sun is that it runs for 2.5 hours and never feels boring or overlong. The worst thing that can be said about it is there's a couple of time where it looks like they were mean to a cat while filming, which is never nice (it's thankfully briefer and less difficult to handle than an infamous scene in Satantango).

It follows a teacher who decides to build an atomic bomb, and then makes a series of demands by threatening to detonate it. It begins as a satirical crime movie, gradually morphs into a thriller, and then explodes into action in the last half-hour or so. Along the way, it can be pretty funny at times, having a tone where calling it light or non-serious would maybe feel inaccurate, but it's definitely fun (while being kind of dark, once you step back and look at the whole thing).

All in all, it's a riot. It's rare to get a movie that's around (or over) two and a half hours where I don't ever feel ready for it to end, which I think is a testament to how well-paced and creative this is, above all else just being very entertaining. As much as I'm looking forward to Oppenheimer, I wouldn't be surprised if this is the best movie about atomic weapons that I watch in 2023.