Men Behind the Sun (1988) Hei tai yang 731 (original title)

Director:

Tun Fei Mou

Writers:

Mei Liu
Wen Yuan Mou (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

March 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | Horror | War

Plot:

Japanese troops round up Chinese and Russian prisoners of war and take them to a place called Squadron 731, where they are grotesquely tortured and experimented on to test new biological weapons.

Plot Keywords:

Biological Weapon | Prisoner | Massacre | Heart In Hand | Human Guinea Pig

Cast

Hsu Gou
Tie Long Jin
Zhaohua Mei		(as Zhao Hua Mei)
Zhe Quan
Gang Wang	...	Lt. Gen. Shiro Ishii
Runsheng Wang		(as Run Shen Wang)
Dai Yao Wu
Andrew Yu

Directed by
Tun Fei Mou		(as T.F. Mous)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Mei Liu		(as Mei Fei Liu)
Wen Yuan Mou		writer
Dun Jing Teng		writer

Produced by
Fu Chi	....	producer
Hung Chu	....	executive producer

Production Companies

• Sil-Metropole Organisation

Distributors

• Grand Essex Enterprises (1989) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• América Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• C.A.V. Distribution (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Cinefear (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Dead Alive Productions (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Eagle Entertainment (Australia)
• Haxan Films (????) (France) (VHS)
• Japan Shock Video & Film Distribution (????) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Musketier Media (2012) (Germany) (DVD)
• Videosino Ltd. (1991) (UK) (VHS)
• World Video & Supply Inc. (2003) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Hei tai yang 731" - Hong Kong (original title)
"Man Behind the Sun" - Canada (English title) (imdb display title), UK (video title)
"Black Sun 731" - Hong Kong (English title) (literal title)

Runtime:

105 min | UK:102 min (cut) | USA:95 min (World Video release) | USA:90 min (Dead Alive Productions release)

Country:

Hong Kong | China

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) | Australia:Refused Classification (original rating: 1989) | USA:Not Rated | Australia:R (re-rating on appeal) | Singapore:R(A) | New Zealand:R18 | South Korea:18 | Canada:18+ (Québec) | Canada:R (Ontario) | France:-16 | UK:18 (cut)

Company:

Sil-Metropole Organisation

Trivia:

Tun Fei Mou wanted to make this movie for many years. He had an interest in doing a film about Japan's war crimes in Asia since he was making movies for Shaw Brothers in Hong Kong in the early 80s. He learned about the horrors of Japan's wartime medical experimentation while in the Mainland while making 'Zi gu ying xiong chu shao nian (1983)' a children's kung fu film called Young Heroes in English. Once Young Heroes was complete he began trying to get Man Behind the Sun made. Research was difficult because the Japanese destroyed most of their evidence and did a good job covering up 731's existence. Mou was able to access some rare American documents because his wife is an American citizen, the Shiro Ishii gave all their surviving data to General McArthur's forces in exchange for immunity. Mou tussled with the People's Republic of China's government for several years petitioning to make this film, the government did not want the film made out of fear of straining their relationship with the Japanese who they wanted as economic allies. They finally caved and gave him permission, his struggle with the government inspired the film's opening quote "Friendship is friendship, history is history".

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the leader of the soldier boys patrol command them to drop and crawl through the snow, one soldier can be seen already dropped before he is even told to do so.

Quotes:

Dr. Shiro Ishii:A small rat can beat a cat. Fleas and germs can defeat bombers and guns. This is... the basic theory behind Squadron 731. It is also my philosophy.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Black Sunshine: Conversations with T.F. Mou (2010)

don't believe the sequel hype

Man Behind the Sun is a worthy film, and readily smeared through its association with a number of schlock "sequels".

Given that most reviewers here can't read Chinese and are measuring the film by its disgust factor, it's easy to see why "Godfrey Ho" is wrongly credited with directing it, instead of just "parts" 2 and 3. The actual director, Mou Tun-fei (aka T.F. Mous) is alive and well and living in Taiwan at last report. He is also a committed Chinese nationalist, which helps to explain the genuine, almost uncontrollable anger in this film.

The "sequels" on the other hand are money-spinners. Anyone who has seen the original should know there was no scope for a sequel set in a camp that had already been destroyed at the conclusion of WWII. At best, "part" 2 is a remake, and a cheap, shabby one at that.

The film is also careful to note significant historical elements, such as how the US government protected some of the criminals portrayed in this film, partly in order to get hold of the scientific data produced at the expense of the lives of thousands of Chinese civilians. If you read books on the matter you will also discover that the vast majority of Japanese scientists implicated in these experiments went on to enjoy successful careers in Japanese universities.

There was no Simon Wiesenthal to chase up and prosecute these individuals, despite their conspicuous presence under a lengthy US administration, and to this day the two governments prefer not to talk about this particularly vile component of Japan's wartime legacy. "Stuff happens," eh Mr Rumsfeld?