Daigo Fukuryu-Maru

Probably one of the most powerful anti-nuclear messages in any film this side of the original Godzilla. Lucky Dragon No. 5 is the harrowing true story of the lives of a crew of a little tuna fishing boat being forever changed after witnessing the detonation of the Castle Bravo H-bomb test. A kaiju film with no monster, it's a movie worthy of a place in the Criterion collection it's criminal this film isn't more well known.

An ageing fishing boat, Dai-go Fukuryu Maru ("Lucky Dragon No. 5") sets out from port travelling around the Pacific line fishing. While the ship is near Bikini Atoll, the ship's navigator sees a flash with all the crew coming up to watch, and their worst fears are realised. It's another atomic explosion. A short time later, grey ash starts to fall on the ship.

Aside from the fact this film was released just 5 years after the event in question, it takes a pseudo-docudrama filmmaking approach in its second half chronicling the crew after their return to Japan and subsequent experimentation by both the US and Japanese governments to understand the effects of the H-Bomb. It's unflinching in how it portrays the said governments and the crew of the No.5 are left dehumanised to the point that they become a statistic.

Kaneto Shindo crafts a film that is equal parts simplistic and effortless in what it's trying to tell. Although the event now lives in the footnotes of the atomic age, Shindo infuses his film with equal amounts of humanity just as much as he does ruthless realism. It's not a film that prides itself on action and melodrama but more so on education on the age the world has entered. There's a real unrelenting choice of shots here that maximise the emotional impact of the second half of the film, in truth the whole film is beautifully shot, almost akin to a watercolour painting yet without the technicolour.

The cast all perform their roles well, it's surprising to see so many Toho regulars in a Daiei movie but given this is Shindo at the helm it's hardly surprising he netted himself such a cast. The writing forgoing any excess or unnecessary drama to give life to the men whose lives would never be the same following the 1st of March 1954. Of course, there was one man who wouldn't live past the turn of the year, chief radioman Kuboyama Aikichi. He is beautifully and lovingly brought back to life by Jukichi Uno with his scenes later in the film as he gradually succumbs to the effects of radiation sickness being genuinely hard to watch and sickening knowing that his death would be the first of many unnecessary casualties of the Cold War.

The hoops you need to jump through to see this film however are extraordinary. Low-quality copies exist on the farthest corners of the internet and fansubs can be found with equal effort for those wanting to experience this lost gem, but if needs must I'm sure a bootleg exists be it DVD or Blu-ray. I found a 240p copy via YouTube with no subtitles and had to download some later which were improperly timed but even that didn't hinder what this film brings to the table.

The real Lucky Dragon No. 5 may be just a footnote to a history major now, but given the context, it's hard to imagine a more important film in the history of Japan's own experiences post-1945. Granted there's most likely some dated material to be found when looked at with a modern eye, but the sheer silence and bright whites of the H-Bomb detonation followed by the speaker-shattering boom of the shockwave is enough to send a shiver down anyone's spine. This one comes highly recommended if you can deal with the so-so copies hanging around on the internet.

I'm sorry if I rambled too much but this film left such a profound impact on me that it was hard not to do so.

It behooves one to read of the actual history of the titular vessel, for the incident and the stories of the crew members are sobering, upsetting, and downright infuriating; these are stories that must be told. With that real-life past well in mind it's safe to assume that this 1959 picture, in its way recounting the all too true events of five years before, would be decidedly downbeat and depressing, but also compelling - to some degree recalling many kindred works that have told of the tragic firsthand knowledge that the Japanese have of the power of atomic weapons and radiation. And just so: after the first twenty minutes or so, gentle exposition of movement on the high seas, camaraderie, and the sailors' close-knit working relationships, the film gives way to the core substance, and the mood turns quickly and definitively. No, 'Daigo Fukuryu Maru' is definitely not a happy movie, and words like "entertaining" or even "satisfying" carry too positive a connotation, but it is well made and mindful in its storytelling, suitably absorbing, and very much remains worth watching.

It's worth observing that the pacing, and occasionally the manner in which the story is told - e.g., the excitement of newspapermen as word spreads, and some overly exaggerated instances of acting - sometimes portend a slight upbeat tenor that exceeds the bounds even of what may feel appropriate. That is to say, we may well expect a measure of awestruck chatter to precede the dawning recognition of reality setting in, not to mention subsequent heightened anxiety, but I might argue that the representation here steps a little too far. Furthermore, content warnings are very necessary not just for the subject matter, but for animal cruelty in early sequences that was unmistakably real and not simulated. One may counter that such scenes are part of the reality of the fishing industry, but that doesn't make the footage any more palatable. In fairness, such qualities are restricted to no more than the first half. Otherwise, the "worst" one might say of the feature is a certain flatness to the overall tone, but I'm of the mind that more than not this actually serves the material well, for it allows the proceedings to speak for themselves. And as filmmaker Shindo Kaneto and co-writer Yagi Yasutaro made certain to weave in the wide variety of concerns that surrounded the boat and her crew, that even-keeled bent may rather help the tale to be told without getting bogged down in any one facet.

Whatever the particulars of our opinion as to how well the subject is treated, the title endeavors to address as much as it can. There is the initial ignorance of the fishermen, not knowing the full danger of the event they were party to, and the misunderstanding of other townspeople of what radiation sickness entails. The issue of contamination is raised, and later, the question of the obstacles and long, difficult road to recovery that the fishermen would face, let alone the ramifications for their loved ones. Less prominent in these 107 minutes is discussion of the stubbornness and even counterproductive deflection of the United States, such as at first refusing to even provide information crucial to the patients' conditions. This does get referenced, by all means, though perhaps given the interference that the U. S. had continued to have in Japanese affairs including cinema following World War II, it's an aspect of the saga that is maybe treated more delicately than it deserves to be. Even so, the screenplay renders history into an engrossing narrative of the hardships of the crew of the Daigo Fukuryu Maru ("Lucky Dragon No. 5") from exposure to gradual recovery and continued monitoring, and works hard to give as broad a perspective as possible.

Save for the lack of other adaptations of the story the picture might not be specifically remarkable in any way, but it is duly well made all the way through, and the runtime elapses quite smoothly. If sometimes overwrought, the cast give fine, warm performances, anchoring the film with meaningful emotional depth and humanity. Much the same could be said for Hayashi Hikaru's score, an able complement, and the direction of filmmaker Shindo as he maintains a balance between all the many elements. Steadfast as the plot is at large, the characterizations, dialogue, and especially the scene writing that flesh it out boast some welcome detail, with just enough of a mind for the central tragedy that at some select times the movie hits surprisingly hard. Otherwise rounded out with excellent contributions from all those operating behind the scenes - filming locations, sets, costume design, effects and special makeup, cinematography, and so on - all told I think this is very good, deserving on its own merits and as a testament to the events of seventy years before. Through to the end it is uneven in some ways, including a denouement that feels long in the tooth, and I wouldn't necessarily put it on the same pedestal as some other works that have broached the same topics. Nonetheless 'Daigo Fukuryu Maru' earns a solid recommendation, and this is worth checking out if you have the opportunity.