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20 out of 22 people found the following comment useful :-
Long, tough documentary forces you to think about what happened during World War Two and how documentaries are made, 28 August 2005
8/10
Author: dbborroughs from Glen Cove, New York

This is the story of Kenzo Okuzai a very strange man who is haunted by what happened back in New Guinea during the Second World War. What happened during the war was that while all the men were starving the officers had several soldiers executed on trumped up charges so that they could be used for food. This is a documentary about his long lonely crusade to put the souls of the dead to rest (ie.to give himself some peace of mind).

This is a very in your face film. Okuzai drives a car with a loudspeaker on the top and is covered with what I can only assume is an explanation of his cause. He challenges authority at every turn (he went to prison for shooting ball bearings at the Emperor... and murder) and does what ever he can to get his point across. Its makes you laugh and it makes you cringe (a case in point in the opening wedding ceremony where he gives a speech that is not to be believed, which is funny for what it says, but cringe inducing for when he says it). Okuzai forces you to consider how far would you go to correct a wrong that happened even 40 years before.

Watching the movie I was forced to reflect not only what it may have been like in the jungles during the war and what I would do to survive. What is the moral obligations we should follow when we are near death and trying to stay alive? The film also forces you to think about the role of a camera in the proceedings. We are with Kenzo Okuzai all along his odd trip as he attempts to comfort the families of the dead and as he confronts (and assaults) the officers who ordered the executions. There is no doubt that he is aware he is being filmed, so does that make him more or less confrontational? Is his behavior more or less genuine than it would be had the camera not been there? Its a tough call and as you watch it you really do have to reflect on what is the role of a film crew in filming actual events? Can we trust the actions of those being filmed? Its all something to think about.

If you get the chance see this film. Its an interesting look at a very odd man. I'm not sure that I liked Okuzai (which is the problem with the movie, he isn't really likable), but he did force me to think about life and film in several new ways.

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16 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :-
*shakes head in disbelief*, 15 April 2000
8/10
Author: sharptongue from Sydney, Australia

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.

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9 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
A lonely crusade to expose the truth, 29 January 2000
10/10
Author: mrreindeer from Los Angeles

Like "Fires on the Plain," this documentary gives you the side of World War Two they left out of the John Wayne films. A Japanese war veteran is haunted by memories of fellow soldiers who were executed (and eaten!) by officers in New Guinea. Ironically, the officers used false charges that the soldiers were themselves cannibals as an excuse for executing them. The old soldier goes on a quixotic and unpopular crusade to bring the truth to light.

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
"Violence is my forte", 18 August 2007
Author: guru_monk from San Diego, California

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I remember reading an interview with director Hara in which he explained that he wanted to turn the clearly unbalanced veteran Kenzo Okuzaki (ominously missing a pinky, which is never explained) into a "action hero" by putting him into situations guaranteed to set him off. Okuzaki believes himself to be an instrument of divine punishment as he attempts to get to the bottom of both the executions of a pair of privates after the war had ended, and the murder and cannibalization of an unpopular officer. In some ways this movie is a fascinating (and weird) look into Japanese society, in which Okuzaki spends ten minutes profusely apologizing to a man he wants to interview for intruding before throwing him to the ground and slapping him for his lack of honesty (which in turn leads to a cringe-inducing but funny moment in which Okuzaki is smothered by the man's neighbors and punched and he turns to the cameras and screams "stop shooting! can't you see I'm being beaten up here?" not much of an action hero anymore). One member of the execution party spends what seems like an eternity changing his stories before admitting to his role in the execution, but claiming he didn't shoot because he had a defective bullet! Some of Okuzaki's targets are quite forthright and honest, others lie in a completely unconvincing manner, some come across as rather pathetic. The main "villain" is the officer who ordered the execution yet denies being present. Yet for all this, there is no commentary, and the reasons given for the executions range from desertion to cannibalization (the sister of one of the executed men is convinced of a vast conspiracy by the officers on New Guinea to keep their cannibalization secret by killing these two privates who would have otherwise spilled the beans), but were probably just another act of brutality in a spectacularly brutal war. Throughout Okuzaki rants and raves and is disarmingly (and bizarrely) forthright about his crimes (shooting BBs at and spreading pornographic pamphlets of Emperor Hirohito, plotting to kill a former Prime Minister, and the actual murder of a real-estate broker in the 50s). He comes across as one-third fanatic, one-third bully, and one-third psychotic, and the conclusion of the film is completely unbelievable, buy wholly in line with what we've seen in the previous two hours. Yet for all of Okuzaki's madness, Hara's skillful manipulation of reality gives the film a veneer of a lone-wolf detective story, as Okuzaki prods and beats the truth (or make that "truth") out of the various broken down veterans he falls upon. Incredible.

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Quite Extraordinary, 9 October 2006
10/10
Author: david rayner from Oxford, UK

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I really can't think of any thing of I've seen to compare with this. This is true story of a man who just wanted to expose the needless executions of two fellow Japanese soldiers by their own side. Of all the deaths, of all the suffering in that most terrible of battles in New Guinea and forty years later he strives to expose the truth. Okuzaki is absolutely fearless of others, the police, of superiors of conventions. Absolutely marvellous. When you consider how many now a days are involved in revisionism. Incidentally an intimate view of Japan and the Japanese, going into real people's houses. Just see it don't read any more. Nobody's supposed to feel sorry for the bad guys, but the Japanese Army once all powerful really suffered in the last years, this just gives you a glimpse of that

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
An amazing documentary.., 3 August 2009
10/10
Author: Odette Williams from United States

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.

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Very interesting if you can get your hands on it, 18 June 2006
8/10
Author: SuperSandra from Stanford, California, USA

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.

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Uncomfortable but brilliant, 8 August 2009
8/10
Author: decembernaghi from California, United States

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I can't say that watching "The Emperor's Naked Army" was an uplifting experience, or that it made me 'feel good.' Many times during the movie, I was uncomfortable; I was shocked, even disgusted by Okuzaki's behavior… but the documentary was brilliant. It was the utter definition of realism. Even when the protagonist started beating up people on camera, Hara kept filming. The result was somewhat mind-boggling. I mean, even with all his faults, Okuzaki gets results. By the end, I really started to wonder if maybe what he was doing was justifiable. This movie really was educational, though. I've learned about WWII many times in school, but I had no idea cannibalism ever occurred. I could barely believe my own eyes and ears! Never before have I seen something so raw and so real. Even though I hated the violence, I'm happy the world gets to see the truth. I've never seen a documentary like this. Michael Moore's movies are more for entertainment purposes than anything else, for example. But this goes back to what a documentary is really supposed to be. Showing the world the truth.

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cinema verite, 5 August 2009
5/10
Author: jnine31 from United States

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While I do not completely agree with the subject matter. The director does a great job at literally filming what is going on, without interfering in any way. The protagonist is in the process of getting beatin up in one scene, and the director just keeps filming and letting it happen. There is direct parallelism to what is going on currently with our country and Iraq, with this movie. This movie undoubtedly opens our eyes to things that were trying to be avoided or swept under the carpet without becoming public knowledge. The bottom line is that this movie is trying to make a difference in the next generation of youth, and while the topic is hard to stomach, and the actions of the protagonist definitely questionable it gets its point across as clear as possible. War is ugly, there is nothing pretty or wonderful about it. It is not clear cut who is bad and who is good, if/when you are out there on the battlefield anything is possible. The orders that you might get from higher ranking soldiers' are not always in the best judgment. The last thing to do is sweep the problem under the carpet. At least give the next generation a clear view of what to expect should they choose war. The protagonist is similar to many story's in which it is the sheer will of the human spirit that makes it. He wants the ex solider's to admit what really went on. He wants the truth to come out. Like I said before, his actions are definitely questionable, he beats up an old man who just had major surgery. He runs around like a mad man, and when they won't openly admit the wrong that has occurred and threaten to call the police on him, he calls the police first for them. All this sounds like the making of a lunatic, but it is precisely in his craziness that the truth is unfolded. This movie was banned in Japan, and while this part of history is not taught either this movie can still be used as a teaching mechanism in other countries. Japan prides itself on work ethic, and service. It is a country unlike any other, they have the lowest crime rate of any country along with the most order. There is a give and take in everything, a balance and harmony created. This director is notable, and important for the younger generations to come.

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These guys make Michael Moore seem tame...and I LOVE it., 4 August 2009
8/10
Author: marcelloltg from United States

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Every society needs a man like Okuzaki and a documentarian like Hara. Sure, Okuzaki is certainly flawed and a little bit crazy, but he did what he needed to do in pursuit of the truth so that we could learn from and atone for our mistakes. I watched this film in my History of International Cinema class and I was so pleasantly surprised beyond anything I had expected for the class. I definitely was not aware (and I know I'm not the only one) that cannibalism and those kinds of atrocities took place during WWII. Once again, I am awed by the power of film not only to entertain, but inform, educate, and shape society. I hope someone will make a film like this about the war in Iraq.

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