A freestyle biopic of Ikki Kita (1883-1937), the ultranationalist intellectual whose ideas inspired the failed military coup in 1936.
This was Japan's submission to the 46th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film but it was not accepted as a nominee. A shame, really, but it is a small slot that these films have to fight to get into.
Although I cannot say I am crazy about this film, I will say that I have to appreciate that this one, as well as "Eros", bring to life historic figures in Japan. For whatever reason, Japanese history is not really well-known in America. Or at least it was never taught to me. Aside from their role in World War II, I had no idea about the political history of the country beyond broad ideas. This sort of makes me more interested in the culture.
