Caterpillar

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02/13/2016 Japanese film mocking war once again. They are kind of good at it. If the englishes were losing wars, they would do this. A different take on the soldier coming back with no members. This one still has stubbles and a face, contrary to our canadian equivalent that came back only with a torso and his brain and could communicate only in morse. So here, our hero is in much better shape, has a wife and is refered to as war god. He is also plunged into the vulnerable position, even though he is still abusive. This pushes him to reconsider his own previous abuses as well as becoming easily abused. A funny turn of event. Very nice photography with the beautiful sepia tone. We get to see some japanese way of life and thinking. See more 12/20/2015 Película sobre el nacionalismo japones en la guerra contra China de 1940, va sobre una mujer de campo que se ve obligada a cuidar de su esposo quien regresa de la guerra sin brazos, piernas, escucha y habla. Típico dramonón japones con toda esa carga melodramática que gustan y con ese dolor que terminó con los 250 mil cuerpos que dejaron los locos yankis en el 45 con sus bombas atómicas. See more 07/30/2014 No one watches the film and goes unscathed! See more 07/05/2014 Plot description is misleading. Story is political, but is mainly about a woman who cares for her invalid soldier husband who lost his arms & legs and cant speak. Very sad & well-acted by Shinobu Terajima. (Caution: graphic creepy sex scenes.) See more 11/06/2013 Gruesome story but it is a powerful anti war (and anti-nationalistic) film. Very hard to watch, makes your stomach turn. See more 10/16/2013 One line summary: Traditional horror with zero supernatural elements; war is more terrible than fake gore. ------------------------------------------------ The film is full of flashbacks, and one of the early ones was of Kyuzo and all the village dressing up for his departure from the village into the military. Most of the film takes place after Kyuzo is a veteran of the war between China and Japan around the time of World War II. He lost both legs and both arms in combat, his head ss about 40% burned, and he is deaf. His speech is adversely affected by the lack of hearing. His wife Shigeko is horrified with this from the start. She tries to strangle him, but does not have the strength. The villagers honor Kyuzo and his achievements, such as they were, in China. They encourage Shigeko strongly to take care of the hero, the War God. Shigeko learns to deal with his eating, waste, bathing, and sexual functions. She takes care of him, which is an large daily effort, an enormous effort over an interval of years. She also works in the rice fields with the other villagers during the day. He tries to learn to write/draw with his mouth and pencil, starting with 'I want to do it.' She parades him around the village dress in uniform and medals. Sometimes she leaves him in the cart to watch her work in the rice fields. About half way through the film, she really gets into being the put-upon wife, and insists on his performing his responsibilities as well. She gets lots of attention for this, and he gets a taste of all the work (done by others) that he generates. Also, she becomes very conscious of the fact that he can no longer beat her. After some time in this steady state, Kyuzo starts having bad memories of what he did in China. Plus his obligations as War God never seem to go away. By 1945, the war started to come to Japanese soil. The radio in Japan reports something entirely different. Shigeko starts getting inwardly discouraged with the horrible things that have happened. Kyuzo has more flashbacks of his bad deeds in China. Toward the end of the war, she needs satisfaction, but he has trouble even being aroused, since he's too obsessed with the bad memories. She slings back in his face the horrible things he said to her before he left for war. At one point, just seeing the flame in their evening lantern brings back the memories of rotten things he did, and how he lost his limbs. This is when she sings a song about a caterpillar, which is what her husband reminds her of. -------Scores------- Cinematography: 7/10 Archival footage was in out of focus sepia; in other words, it sucked rocks. Sound: 8/10 OK, but not great. Acting: 9/10 Fine. Screenplay: 8/10 The story hangs together well. More cohesion about the flashbacks would have been nice. See more Read all reviews

Caterpillar

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