Yuki yukite, shingun

This guy is really something. A raving mad and very dangerous man, Kenzo Okuzai spares no effort to atone for his formerly sinful and wasted life. Sometimes accompanied by the relatives of two army officers executed on false charges, Okuzai confronts the six executioners and their commanders in their homes, without notice. He demands they tell the truth, physically attacks them when they are disrespectful, and offers to call the police if the man wants. All the while, Okuzai relentlessly pursues the truth, which is probably that the murdered men went straight onto the menu.

This doco is, by turns, sickening, fascinating, compulsive .... and excrutiatingly funny. Not easy to watch, but highly recommended.

The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On was one of the most amazing documentaries I've ever watched. Okuzaki and his wife endured so much over the 5 years, so much pain and emotional suffering to track down the truth. To search for the truth behind what really happened to the soldiers that were in Okuzaki's unit relied on so much of their passion and commitment..I really admire that. Okuzaki along with Kazuo - the amazing director behind this film track down officers one by one...using whatever/appearing however necessary to get within the walls of questioning...completely deceiving most of the time. Each officer who was under Hirohito's power was to explain how the two soldiers died...any form of resistance resulted in abuse verbally and even physically. When the cause was mentioned and when I discovered how the bodies were processed - - I was like ugh!! Who does that?? And the most amazing yet bothersome conclusion I came to in of all this is that I just absorbed Okuzaki's true life experience...a very harsh, painsaking true realism.

I watched this film for a modern Japanese narrative class, but would definitely recommend it to anyone else. The copy I had made it hard to read the subtitles sometimes, but it was usually pretty obvious what was going on, because at that point Okuzaki Kenzo was usually beating somebody up for not telling him the truth.

It is sometimes hard to believe that this film is a documentary, because you want it to be fiction. It is not easy to watch, but whole-heartedly worth it, because even though it forces you to think about a lot of uncomfortable things, WWII was a very uncomfortable time, so it's rather appropriate, that way.

For the Japanese stationed on New Guinea during the Second World War, life was hell. Trapped in the oppressive heat of the jungle, with enemies on all sides and barely any food or water; men had to do desperate, base things to survive. Most of them would rather forget their experiences, or pretend they never happened. One man, however, refuses to let the past die: Kenzo Okuzaki, a middle-aged anti-monarchist anarchist. He too was stationed on New Guinea, and believes fate has bestowed upon him a mission: to find out the truth behind the mysterious deaths of two soldiers from his old unit. Almost forty years after the end of the War, Okuzaki embarks on this investigation, where he uncovers incredible, uncomfortable truths; documented for your viewing pleasure in Kazuo Hara's 'The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On.'

A powerful fly-on-the-wall documentary, 'The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On' is fascinating and unpredictable. A character study, as well as a poignant look at the experience of WWII Veterans in Japan, the film has a lot to offer. Okuzaki is a terrifically strange fellow whose every waking moment is consumed by anarchist ideals, and his quest is utterly compelling.

Fond of blowing his own trumpet, he is a charismatic eccentric whose investigative skills are surprisingly subtle and effective. He traverses Japan, interviewing various veterans involved in the murders. For a time, he brings the siblings of the two victims with him to engender sympathy from those he interrogates; a canny psychological trick. Okuzaki bombards his subjects with questions and non-stop chatter, breaking down their defences and- more often than not- uncovering long buried truths in the process.

Okuzaki is quite clearly a dangerous man, though, who does some questionable things to try and get people to talk. At times one wonders whether or not the presence of the camera isn't encouraging his outrageousness, and that he may be hampering his own mission. By attacking- or threatening to attack- the majority of those he interviews, Okuzaki comes across as more than a little unbalanced, which puts into question the validity of his investigation. Is he a crusader of justice, or an insane bully who beats people until they say what he wants them to?

The film paints a portrait of Okuzaki as a mixture of the two; something of an insane crusader. Indeed, despite his violent tendencies- or perhaps because of them- Okuzaki successfully solves the murders; uncovering some more in the process. He brings closure to the families of victims, and showcases how uncaring the Japanese government was during the War. Director Hara also uses the film to shed a light on the experience of Veterans after the War, and how the surviving men carry with them the shame and guilt of combat.

The soldiers Okuzaki interrogates are all broken men, in one way or another, haunted by their memories of New Guinea. The stories about the depravity they were forced to endure and partake in are devastating, and you can see the weight of that trauma is still overwhelming. A frail veteran by the name of Kichitaro Yamada- who Okuzaki visits twice and kicks a few times- has the most to say, and his revelations are staggering. By the time the credits roll, viewers will have a different perspective on Japan's involvement in WWII, and will clearly see the depths humans can sink to in order to survive.

There is nothing quite like 'The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On.' Wholly engrossing and consistently unpredictable, it has influenced generations of documentarians- from Joshua Oppenheimer to Bing Wang- and its power has not been diminished by time. It is an extraordinary odyssey in the company of a madman that offers viewers a unique cinematic experience not likely to be forgotten. Insightful, poignant, profound: Kazuo Hara's 'The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On' is a masterpiece.

When this strange documentary begins, the viewer is left very confused because the context for what is occurring is missing. This is an odd way of doing this film, but so be it. After a while, you learn that Kenzo Okuzaki is angry--angry at the emperor and others...but why? Then, you slowly learn that it's about some atrocities that occurred in New Guinea during WWII. And, eventually you learn the story-- several Japanese soldiers were executed on trumped up charges and Okuzaki thinks it was to provide meat to the rest of the starving soldiers in his regiment! Yet, in the Japanese push to bury the past horrors of the regime, no one is sure what happened and the dogged Okuzaki is determined to track down all the surviving folks who can substantiate what happened and MAKE them talk. If that means beating the snot out of them or publicly shaming them, so be it-- as Okuzaki doesn't seem to care what might happen to him in the process! Okuzaki isn't alone in his quest, as a couple family members of the executed men accompany him. Additionally, a camera crew stands there and refuses to get involved when Okuzaki attacks folks or is attacked in turn! What's next? See the film.

This is an odd sort of film--sort of guerrilla style with Okuzaki and his friends surprising the folks that they want to question, as they just showed up and the film crew started filming! Normally, I would feel sorry for anyone who is set upon by a film crew like this, but the folks WERE war criminals! An interesting film and one that attempts to force the Japanese to finally acknowledge SOME of the WWII war crimes--so it is a very important film for fans of documentaries. But, its style is difficult to follow for some viewers, it's a bit overlong (and loses some of its punch because of this) and a prologue explaining everything would have been appreciated.