Anatahan (1953)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Josef von Sternberg

Writers:

Younghill Kang (novel)
Michiro Maruyama (novel)

Release Date:

17 May 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

Josef von Sternberg directed, photographed, provides the voice-over narration and wrote the screenplay...

Plot Keywords:

Japanese | Narration | One Word Title | WWII | Japan

Cast

Akemi Negishi	...	Keiko Kusakabe, the 'Queen Bee'
Tadashi Suganuma	...	Kusakabe, Husband of Keiko (as Suganuma)
Kisaburo Sawamura	...	Kuroda (as Sawamura)
Shôji Nakayama	...	Nishio (as Nakayama)
Jun Fujikawa	...	Yoshisato (as Fujikawa)
Hiroshi Kondô	...	Yanaginuma (as Kondo)
Shozo Miyashita	...	Sennami (as Miyashita)
Tsuruemon Bando	...	Doi (as Tsuruemon)
Kikuji Onoe	...	Kaneda (as Kikuji)
Rokuriro Kineya	...	Marui (as Rokuriro)
Daijiro Tamura	...	Kanzaki (as Tamura)
Chizuru Kitagawa		(as Kitagawa)
Takeshi Suzuki	...	Takahashi (as Suzuki)
Shiro Amikura	...	Amanuma (as Amikura)

Also Known As:

Ana-ta-han (USA)
The Saga of Anatahan

Runtime:

92 min | Argentina:94 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese | English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System) | Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (1967) | USA:Approved | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Kyoto, Japan

Company:

Daiwa

Quotes:

Narrator: To look back on something is not the same as having lived it.

The perfect end to a brilliant career

This film actually had a run in Paris outside the Cinematheque and it attracted considerable attention. It's an audacious,in-your-face sort of quirky film that works on many levels. Sterberg's autobiography "Fun in a Chinese Laundry" spells out some of techniques he employed but the film needs to be experienced beyond a mere description. It was shot in an airplane hangar to begin with, with all the tinsel and tin foil representing an island jungle. The limited number of players (all non-professional) and space (on an island) make this more of a chamber work rather than the Hollywood cast of thousands and its subdued drama will disappoint some who want things to be more explicit. It's purely artificial and looks that way deliberately. The film is in Japanese without subtitles and the narrator in English is none other than Sternberg himself. He warns the audience of what will happen BEFORE it happens, thus leaving us free to discover the camera-work, the scenery and the atmosphere minus the drama. Drama there is, of course, but detached from what's happening on screen. Everything in the film - minus the very last shot, alas - is artificial, dream-like and absolutely fascinating. What a remarkable end to a remarkable career. I highly recommend it although I wouldn't know how to find it. Good luck!

Curtis Stotlar