Also Directed by Yutaka Abe
Adaptation of the novel by Bunroku Shishi.
Japanese drama film.
Directed by Yutaka Abe.
A narrative depicting the appearance of soldiers scattered in Rabaul during the Pacific War. The original work of Yoshinori Matsuura was dramatized by Toyama Tetsu of “Smuggling of the Body”, also directed by Yutaka Abe, and Shigeyoshi Mine of “Densuke's Propaganda” was in charge of the shooting. The main performers are Michitaro Mizushima of “Smuggling of the Body”, Ryoji Hayama of “The Sorrowful Garden”, Shoji Yasui of “The People of Okino”, Shiro Osaka of “Lonely Man”, “Tetsuji Kawakami Story 16” In addition to Hiroshi Nihonyanagi, Shinsuke Maki, Isamu Kosugi of the "Hunger Soul", Ko Mishima, Satoshi Nishimura, Saburo Hiromatsu, Hiroshi Kondo and others.
The film was produced during Second Sino-Japanese War, before the Pearl Harbor Attack in 1941. The film mainly concerns the training of newly-recruited pilots and their daily life, then their subsequent fighting experiences in China. Army supported the production, providing all the authentic airplanes, training and actual actions. They even provided the older biplanes disguised as Chinese fighter planes. Obinata plays the trainer-turned-combat-leader, who is passionate and cool at the same time. All his boys love him, of course. The film is not as intense, full of sugar-coated camaraderie, until young pilots are killed in action one by one. Last twenty minutes are fairly grim, as the message of self-sacrifice is heard loud and clear.
