The Man Who Stole the Sun (1979)
"Taiyô wo nusunda otoko" (original title)

A misfit high-school science teacher decides to build his own atomic bomb. He steals isotopes from a nuclear reactor and manages to create two warheads, but at the same time is present at a... See full summary »

Director:

Kazuhiko Hasegawa

Writers:

Leonard Schrader (screenplay), Kazuhiko Hasegawa (screenplay),

Stars:

Bunta Sugawara, Kenji Sawada, Kimiko Ikegami

8 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Bunta Sugawara	...	Inspector Yamashita
Kenji Sawada	...	Makoto Kido
Kimiko Ikegami	...	Zero Sawai
Kazuo Kitamura	...	Tanaka, the director of the National Police Agency
Shigeru Kôyama	...	Nakayama
Kei Satô	...	Dr. Ichikawa
Yûnosuke Itô	...	Bus Hijacker
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eimei Esumi	...	Egawa
Hiroshi Gojo	...	Identikit Officer
Tatsuya Hamaguchi
Hajime Hoshi
Junichi Hosokawa
Akinobu Imamura
Yukiko Inoue
Yûdai Ishiyama	...	Detective Ishikawa

Storyline

A misfit high-school science teacher decides to build his own atomic bomb. He steals isotopes from a nuclear reactor and manages to create two warheads, but at the same time is present at a botched school-bus hijacking and is publicly coronated as a hero. Nevertheless, he uses the bombs to extort the police, first by demanding that baseball games be shown without commercial interruptions and then by having the Rolling Stones play in Japan despite their drug bust. Soon it's a race to see what wins first: the determined cop who's after him, the bomb he's carrying, or a burgeoning case of radiation poisoning...

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Plot Keywords:

atomic bomb | japan | school bus | misfit | hijacking | 

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

9 October 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Man Who Stole the Sun

Filming Locations:

Kumamoto Castle, Kumamoto, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kitty Films, Tristone Entertainment Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

147 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.96 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The song Makoto is humming while preparing to open up the plutonium capsule is the theme song for 'Tetsuwan Atom: Uchû no yûsha (1964)'.

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Quotes

[On their way to appease a hostage-taker.]
Yamashita: You're a teacher? What do you teach?
Makoto Kido: Science.
Yamashita: Hm. I don't think science isn't going to help us right now.

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Connections

Referenced in Crossfire (2000)

User Reviews

Like the bubble gum Kido seems to blow continuously, the story is finally stretched beyond its natural limits, leaving it with only one thing left to do: burst.

The Man Who Stole The Sun "Taiyo o nusunda otoko" (1979) The Man Who Stole the Sun is a title which invokes the myth of Prometheus, who stole fire from the Gods to give to man and was duly punished for it. The film revolves around a science teacher, Makato Kido (Kenji Sawada) who steals the secrets of the atom, constructing his own atomic bomb from stolen plutonium and holding Tokyo to ransom.

Kido, the long haired, bubble gum chewing teacher who smokes too much and sleeps in class, goes by the terrorist codename "Nine". A symbolic reference to the eight nations who possess nuclear weapons (America, Soviet Union, England, France, China, India, Israel, South Africa), thus making him, potential nuclear threat number nine. Kido's flawed portrayal is as a man who desires the knowledge and power of an atomic bomb, yet upon attaining it, he is at a loss on what do with it. Subsequently, he calls up the vacuous, pretty radio hostess "Zero" (Kimiko Ikegami) and asks what others would demand if they had a nuclear bomb. The demand: that Rolling Stones would perform in Tokyo.

The Rolling Stones is just one reference which contextually marks this late 1970s film. The other themes of the film: the Vietnam and Cold War, nuclear proliferation and the power of nations over the individual, reflects a social context where the autonomy of the individual was second to government agendas. By giving nuclear power to Kido, the film espouses a very liberal agenda of an individual (or public opinion) being able to assert his will on the government.

Yet, as with many Japanese films, the fascination of the bomb – its raw destructive potential as well as its slow decaying effects – is a constant reminder of what the dangers of such power, placed in the wrong hands, can do. But who can blame them, being the only nation to experience the devastating effects of the atomic bomb? (Apart from South Australia of course, but according to the government, Aborigines don't count). "Prolonged exposure to radiation leads to hair loss, tissue decay and eventual death" Zero tells us. The death of Kido's cat through plutonium poisoning, hair falling out, bleeding gums, nausea, vomiting and finally culminating in Zero's ironic death as an indirect result of the bomb are constant reminders of this.

Cinematically, Tokyo is captured beautifully through filters, portrayed as an almost surreal, blue urban landscape which infests the very streets, office hallways and the panoramic locations. The scenes in which Kido steals the plutonium is one of the highlights, reminiscent of the stills sequence of Chris Marker's La Jetée. Iran and South Korea could even take a few pointers from Kido's plutonium enrichment techniques – heating by home stove-oven.

However, the film falls flat in the last half hour. The director had three chances to resolve the ending, but he forgoes all three. As a result, the film seems to protract itself needlessly. The last few minutes turns almost into a mockery of what the director had worked to build in the first one and a half hours, degenerating into a clichéd Hong Kong-esquire action/comedy car-chase and final violent showdown. It also shatters the audience's presumptions about Kido's character, as he desperately attempts to hold onto the bomb which he has no real use for.

The film finally ends the only way it could be ended at this point – with Kido strolling down the street, atom bomb at his side. Like the bubble gum Kido seems to blow continuously, the atomic bomb (and the story) is finally stretched beyond its natural limits, leaving it with only one thing left to do: burst.