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 ...
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Title: Riben guizi (2001)
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Cast
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Yoshio Tsuchiya | ... | Himself / Former 2nd Lieutenant, MP / Witness #1 |
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Hakudo Nagatomi | ... | Himself / Former Sergeant, Army / Witness #2 |
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Yoshio Shinozuka | ... | Himself / Former Corporal, Army / Witness #3 |
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Taisuke Funyu | ... | Himself / Former Sergeant Major, Army / Witness #4 |
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Tsuyoshi Ebato | ... | Himself / Former Sergeant, Army / Witness #5 |
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Masao Shikada | ... | Himself / Former 2nd Lieutenant, Army / Witness #6 |
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Yoshio Suzuki | ... | Himself / Former Sergeant Major, Army / Witness #7 |
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Yasuji Kaneko | ... | Himself / Former Corporal, Army / Witness #8 |
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Masayo Enomoto | ... | Himself / Former Sergeant Major, Army / Witness #9 |
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Ken Yuasa | ... | Himself / Former 1st Lieutenant, Army Medical Corps / Witness #10 |
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Ichirô Kôyama | ... | Himself / Former Sergeant, Army / Witness #11 |
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Shôzô Tominaga | ... | Himself / Former 1st Lieutenant, Army / Witness #12 |
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Tetsuji Kubota | ... | Himself / Former Sergeant Major, Army / Witness #13 |
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Takeshi Kobayashi | ... | Himself / Former Private 1st Class, Army / Witness #14 |
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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. Written by Jean-Marc Rocher <rocher@fiberbit.net>
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Country:
JapanLanguage:
JapaneseRelease Date:
1 December 2001 (Japan) See more »Also Known As:
Confessions of Imperial Army Soldiers from Japan's War Against China See more »Company Credits
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The film screened at the 2001 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). See more »Frequently Asked Questions
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This is a documentary about the war crimes that Japanese soldiers did during the invasion in the second world war. I expected that this film will have some historical footage, showing what the soldiers did in the invasion. However, the film did not have any historical footage, it only contained the confessions of the soldiers.
The Japanese government has constantly denied that they have done anything wrong during the invasion, and even denying that they invaded China and other countries in Asia. I think this documentary is very valuable. Throughout the whole documentary, it contained the confessions of many soldiers who killed and raped civilians. They looted villages, and burned all houses they saw. They had competitions about how many Chinese people they killed each day. All the things were very horrible, and they regretted and repented that they committed such crimes.
The soldiers confessed their crimes because they could not live with their conscience. Some of them had nightmares during their sleep. Others want to teach the younger generation what war is really like. War is not glorious, it is a beastly event. Every soldier had to lose their mind and become cruel. The soldiers hope that, by teaching the younger people about wars, there will not be anymore invasions by Japan in the future.
One very important thing about this film that many spectators did not like is its length. It is nearly three hours long. Three hours of pure talking is very dull and boring, even though the things they are saying are very important. A lot of people left in the middle of the film.
As I previously mentioned, the film did not have any historical footage. All the crimes were described in words by the soldiers. Without some graphical help, it is a bit difficult to imagine what it was really like. I suggest that the film can add some reconstructions of the crimes, so that the messages can be brought to the spectators more vividly and effectively.