Imai Tadashi became one Japan's most respected directors in the 1950's, when he directed a series of works with leftist societal commentary and progressive messages. He has earned his fame, since many of his films are nothing short of great. However, he got his start as a director during the war, and unfortunately, it was his fate to make some of the nastiest, most vile propaganda films that Japan produced during the age of the country's imperialist expansion. Imai later said that the films he made during the war were the biggest mistake of his life.
"Ai to chikai" (Love and Pledge / Love and Vows, 1945) is the last of Imai's national policy films. It came out right as the war ended. It is the product of desperate times, and eerily shows, just how low you can sink. The film's message is simple: Korean people should join the Japanese armed forces, as Kamikaze pilots. Think about that for a while. Any film, that would encourage any person to die for their country as a suicide pilot, would be hard to watch. But this film doesn't stop there. It encourages a nation, that has been occupied by another nation, to join that country's army, to fight the people who are coming to liberate them, and to kill themselves as part of this service. That's pretty low.
And the craftiness does not stop there. The film was made to look like a co-production. Besides Toho, a Korean film company is listed in the credits, and besides Imai, there is a Korean director who shares the credit with him. So this way, it doesn't look like the Japanese are forcing a message down the throats of the Koreans, but the Koreans themselves have come to realize, how they could be of service to the imperial forces. Neat, huh?
The narrative does not really matter. With a thesis like that, there is no forgiving element that the storyline could give out. The film is about an orphan Korean boy, who after facing hardship, gets adopted by a Japanese man, and is welcomed by Japanese society. When he grows up, the boy decides to pay his debt to Japan by becoming, you guessed it, a kamikaze pilot.
I feel bad for Imai, as well as the actors who had to make this film like Shimura Takashi. Imai was an intelligent, humane director, who would after the war make several films about the brutality of these times. The fact that you see a good director reduced to this, makes you really sad. After this film you want to take a shower to cleanse yourself. It's a product from the wrong side of history.
