Riben guizi (2001)

A documentary recording the testimony of fourteen former Japanese soldiers as they recount atrocities and war crimes committed during the Second World War, including the infamous Unit 731 ... See full summary »

Director:

Minoru Matsui

Writer:

Minoru Matsui (screenplay)

Stars:

Yoshio Tsuchiya, Hakudo Nagatomi, Yoshio Shinozuka

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview:
Yoshio Tsuchiya	...	Himself / Former 2nd Lieutenant, MP / Witness #1
Hakudo Nagatomi	...	Himself / Former Sergeant, Army / Witness #2
Yoshio Shinozuka	...	Himself / Former Corporal, Army / Witness #3
Taisuke Funyu	...	Himself / Former Sergeant Major, Army / Witness #4
Tsuyoshi Ebato	...	Himself / Former Sergeant, Army / Witness #5
Masao Shikada	...	Himself / Former 2nd Lieutenant, Army / Witness #6
Yoshio Suzuki	...	Himself / Former Sergeant Major, Army / Witness #7
Yasuji Kaneko	...	Himself / Former Corporal, Army / Witness #8
Masayo Enomoto	...	Himself / Former Sergeant Major, Army / Witness #9
Ken Yuasa	...	Himself / Former 1st Lieutenant, Army Medical Corps / Witness #10
Ichirô Kôyama	...	Himself / Former Sergeant, Army / Witness #11
Shôzô Tominaga	...	Himself / Former 1st Lieutenant, Army / Witness #12
Tetsuji Kubota	...	Himself / Former Sergeant Major, Army / Witness #13
Takeshi Kobayashi	...	Himself / Former Private 1st Class, Army / Witness #14

Storyline

A documentary recording the testimony of fourteen former Japanese soldiers as they recount atrocities and war crimes committed during the Second World War, including the infamous Unit 731 medical experimentation group. Having been trained by their country to be nothing but killers, the soldiers claim to have become morally numb and unable to see non-Japanese as even human. Perhaps feeling some remorse for what they have done, they now choose to tell their stories for the world to hear.

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Plot Keywords:

japanese soldier | japanese man | confession | memory | pow | 

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Genres:

Documentary | War

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

1 December 2001 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Confessions of Imperial Army Soldiers from Japan's War Against China

Company Credits

Production Co:

Directors System Co.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

160 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film screened at the 2001 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

User Reviews

Good Archival footage... biased narrative

The film is excellent in making its point. The documentary arrangement is spotless, and the color gimmick is tolerable. In fact, for such a piece of propaganda, it is a good documentary. This nonetheless does not take away the fact that for a historian, or anyone interested in world history untainted by American revisionism, the film is of a heavy bias. Sadly, not a Japanese bias but rather a North American bias. There is no background to the traditional conflicts between China and Japan, no mention of the detrimental effects of Western (UK and USA)military pressures to open their markets or most importantly the pressure of American imperialism (Hawaii, Philipines, misc naval bases) upon Japan, in fact the film is so biased that the Japanese view of the Rape of Nanking is described thus: "to them it is not an invasion, but a liberation". Now, even if it was brutal, and accepting it was an invasion, why isn't there mention of the presence of Britain in China, the country it was being "liberated" from. There is even one ridiculous mention of "the great depression which originated after the market crash in NY 1929", it makes you wonder what kind of history degree is needed to make a documentary. The film even manages to make it seem like American and British control of CHina was a positive thing but Japanese control a bad thing. I mean, if i knew just a tad less of the actual history, i would have knelt right then and there and said the pledge of allegiance. Once again, well done, but, not truthful, real or accurate. Veredict: PROPAGANDA