The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On (1987) User Reviews

Long, tough documentary forces you to think about what happened during World War Two and how documentaries are made

[dbborroughs · 8/10 · 28 August 2005]

This is the story of Kenzo Okuzai a very strange man who is haunted by what happened back in New Guinea during the Second World War. What happened during the war was that while all the men were starving the officers had several soldiers executed on trumped up charges so that they could be used for food. This is a documentary about his long lonely crusade to put the souls of the dead to rest (ie.to give himself some peace of mind).

This is a very in your face film. Okuzai drives a car with a loudspeaker on the top and is covered with what I can only assume is an explanation of his cause. He challenges authority at every turn (he went to prison for shooting ball bearings at the Emperor... and murder) and does what ever he can to get his point across. Its makes you laugh and it makes you cringe (a case in point in the opening wedding ceremony where he gives a speech that is not to be believed, which is funny for what it says, but cringe inducing for when he says it). Okuzai forces you to consider how far would you go to correct a wrong that happened even 40 years before.

Watching the movie I was forced to reflect not only what it may have been like in the jungles during the war and what I would do to survive. What is the moral obligations we should follow when we are near death and trying to stay alive? The film also forces you to think about the role of a camera in the proceedings. We are with Kenzo Okuzai all along his odd trip as he attempts to comfort the families of the dead and as he confronts (and assaults) the officers who ordered the executions. There is no doubt that he is aware he is being filmed, so does that make him more or less confrontational? Is his behavior more or less genuine than it would be had the camera not been there? Its a tough call and as you watch it you really do have to reflect on what is the role of a film crew in filming actual events? Can we trust the actions of those being filmed? Its all something to think about.

If you get the chance see this film. Its an interesting look at a very odd man. I'm not sure that I liked Okuzai (which is the problem with the movie, he isn't really likable), but he did force me to think about life and film in several new ways.

The Odyssey of an Insane Crusader

[reelreviewsandrecommendations · 9/10 · 10 January 2023]

For the Japanese stationed on New Guinea during the Second World War, life was hell. Trapped in the oppressive heat of the jungle, with enemies on all sides and barely any food or water; men had to do desperate, base things to survive. Most of them would rather forget their experiences, or pretend they never happened. One man, however, refuses to let the past die: Kenzo Okuzaki, a middle-aged anti-monarchist anarchist. He too was stationed on New Guinea, and believes fate has bestowed upon him a mission: to find out the truth behind the mysterious deaths of two soldiers from his old unit. Almost forty years after the end of the War, Okuzaki embarks on this investigation, where he uncovers incredible, uncomfortable truths; documented for your viewing pleasure in Kazuo Hara's 'The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On.'

A powerful fly-on-the-wall documentary, 'The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On' is fascinating and unpredictable. A character study, as well as a poignant look at the experience of WWII Veterans in Japan, the film has a lot to offer. Okuzaki is a terrifically strange fellow whose every waking moment is consumed by anarchist ideals, and his quest is utterly compelling.

Fond of blowing his own trumpet, he is a charismatic eccentric whose investigative skills are surprisingly subtle and effective. He traverses Japan, interviewing various veterans involved in the murders. For a time, he brings the siblings of the two victims with him to engender sympathy from those he interrogates; a canny psychological trick. Okuzaki bombards his subjects with questions and non-stop chatter, breaking down their defences and- more often than not- uncovering long buried truths in the process.

Okuzaki is quite clearly a dangerous man, though, who does some questionable things to try and get people to talk. At times one wonders whether or not the presence of the camera isn't encouraging his outrageousness, and that he may be hampering his own mission. By attacking- or threatening to attack- the majority of those he interviews, Okuzaki comes across as more than a little unbalanced, which puts into question the validity of his investigation. Is he a crusader of justice, or an insane bully who beats people until they say what he wants them to?

The film paints a portrait of Okuzaki as a mixture of the two; something of an insane crusader. Indeed, despite his violent tendencies- or perhaps because of them- Okuzaki successfully solves the murders; uncovering some more in the process. He brings closure to the families of victims, and showcases how uncaring the Japanese government was during the War. Director Hara also uses the film to shed a light on the experience of Veterans after the War, and how the surviving men carry with them the shame and guilt of combat.

The soldiers Okuzaki interrogates are all broken men, in one way or another, haunted by their memories of New Guinea. The stories about the depravity they were forced to endure and partake in are devastating, and you can see the weight of that trauma is still overwhelming. A frail veteran by the name of Kichitaro Yamada- who Okuzaki visits twice and kicks a few times- has the most to say, and his revelations are staggering. By the time the credits roll, viewers will have a different perspective on Japan's involvement in WWII, and will clearly see the depths humans can sink to in order to survive.

There is nothing quite like 'The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On.' Wholly engrossing and consistently unpredictable, it has influenced generations of documentarians- from Joshua Oppenheimer to Bing Wang- and its power has not been diminished by time. It is an extraordinary odyssey in the company of a madman that offers viewers a unique cinematic experience not likely to be forgotten. Insightful, poignant, profound: Kazuo Hara's 'The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On' is a masterpiece.

*shakes head in disbelief*

[sharptongue · 8/10 · 15 April 2000]

This guy is really something. A raving mad and very dangerous man, Kenzo Okuzai spares no effort to atone for his formerly sinful and wasted life. Sometimes accompanied by the relatives of two army officers executed on false charges, Okuzai confronts the six executioners and their commanders in their homes, without notice. He demands they tell the truth, physically attacks them when they are disrespectful, and offers to call the police if the man wants. All the while, Okuzai relentlessly pursues the truth, which is probably that the murdered men went straight onto the menu.

This doco is, by turns, sickening, fascinating, compulsive .... and excrutiatingly funny. Not easy to watch, but highly recommended.

An amazing documentary..

[phoenixexotics · 10/10 · 3 August 2009]

The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On was one of the most amazing documentaries I've ever watched. Okuzaki and his wife endured so much over the 5 years, so much pain and emotional suffering to track down the truth. To search for the truth behind what really happened to the soldiers that were in Okuzaki's unit relied on so much of their passion and commitment..I really admire that. Okuzaki along with Kazuo - the amazing director behind this film track down officers one by one...using whatever/appearing however necessary to get within the walls of questioning...completely deceiving most of the time. Each officer who was under Hirohito's power was to explain how the two soldiers died...any form of resistance resulted in abuse verbally and even physically. When the cause was mentioned and when I discovered how the bodies were processed - - I was like ugh!! Who does that?? And the most amazing yet bothersome conclusion I came to in of all this is that I just absorbed Okuzaki's true life experience...a very harsh, painsaking true realism.

A lonely crusade to expose the truth

[mrreindeer · 10/10 · 29 January 2000]

Like "Fires on the Plain," this documentary gives you the side of World War Two they left out of the John Wayne films. A Japanese war veteran is haunted by memories of fellow soldiers who were executed (and eaten!) by officers in New Guinea. Ironically, the officers used false charges that the soldiers were themselves cannibals as an excuse for executing them. The old soldier goes on a quixotic and unpopular crusade to bring the truth to light.

Life During Wartime

[akoaytao1234 · 10/10 · 15 March 2017]

Meddling between the line of a gross-out comedy or a messed-up war film , ENAMO is a weirdly tantalizing documentary that is just to good to be true. In this film, we follow Okuzaki, a psychotic man who was previously jailed for murdering his fellow veteran and trying to hit the the Emperor of Japan for failing his fellow Japanese during the war. In a period of five years, he tries to solve the mysterious deaths of two low ranking officials and a General during his stay in Papua New Guinea. By then everything starts to go absurd. Apparently a concoction of desperation, hunger, hatred, disillusionment and pure delusion happened causing the mysterious death, all of which slowly revealed by each of the guilty veterans in pure gory detail as Okuzaki (tropes and all) muscles them for the truth. All of which recorded in a 'matter- of- fact' Cinema-Verite styling of Hara.

Towards the end, the title itself come full circle. This veterans (including Okuzaki) is here with the truth that they all had been masking all this time due to the fact that they themselves cannot fathom the mistakes they did. They had became the emperor parading in his make-belief clothing. A true must watch for anyone who wants to understand the hardships and after-effects of war. [5/5]

"Violence is my forte"

[guru_monk · 18 August 2007]

I remember reading an interview with director Hara in which he explained that he wanted to turn the clearly unbalanced veteran Kenzo Okuzaki (ominously missing a pinky, which is never explained) into a "action hero" by putting him into situations guaranteed to set him off. Okuzaki believes himself to be an instrument of divine punishment as he attempts to get to the bottom of both the executions of a pair of privates after the war had ended, and the murder and cannibalization of an unpopular officer. In some ways this movie is a fascinating (and weird) look into Japanese society, in which Okuzaki spends ten minutes profusely apologizing to a man he wants to interview for intruding before throwing him to the ground and slapping him for his lack of honesty (which in turn leads to a cringe-inducing but funny moment in which Okuzaki is smothered by the man's neighbors and punched and he turns to the cameras and screams "stop shooting! can't you see I'm being beaten up here?" not much of an action hero anymore). One member of the execution party spends what seems like an eternity changing his stories before admitting to his role in the execution, but claiming he didn't shoot because he had a defective bullet! Some of Okuzaki's targets are quite forthright and honest, others lie in a completely unconvincing manner, some come across as rather pathetic. The main "villain" is the officer who ordered the execution yet denies being present. Yet for all this, there is no commentary, and the reasons given for the executions range from desertion to cannibalization (the sister of one of the executed men is convinced of a vast conspiracy by the officers on New Guinea to keep their cannibalization secret by killing these two privates who would have otherwise spilled the beans), but were probably just another act of brutality in a spectacularly brutal war. Throughout Okuzaki rants and raves and is disarmingly (and bizarrely) forthright about his crimes (shooting BBs at and spreading pornographic pamphlets of Emperor Hirohito, plotting to kill a former Prime Minister, and the actual murder of a real-estate broker in the 50s). He comes across as one-third fanatic, one-third bully, and one-third psychotic, and the conclusion of the film is completely unbelievable, buy wholly in line with what we've seen in the previous two hours. Yet for all of Okuzaki's madness, Hara's skillful manipulation of reality gives the film a veneer of a lone-wolf detective story, as Okuzaki prods and beats the truth (or make that "truth") out of the various broken down veterans he falls upon. Incredible.

The Emperor's Naked Army marches on

[jonnajureen · 10/10 · 3 August 2009]

This documentary tells the story of Kenzo Okusaki, a hugely out of the norm, 62 year old man from Japan, that decides to spend all of his time and energy investigating what happened to several of the soldiers in his unit that were executed and cannibalized 23 days after the war was over in New Guinea. Denied by both government and the people involved, Kenzo, 40 years after returning from New Guinea makes this into his one cause, wanting to bring justice to a concealed part of history. In doing so, he shun no means. From the opening scene, we follow Kenzo in his green wagon, beginning with conducting a public memorial service to console the victims who perished for the emperor Hirohito during the Pacific War. He continues his journey with abruptly visit people involved investigating the mysterious death of the soldiers. If they refuse to speak, Kenzo threatens to beat them up- and he means it! Violence is something he means, can be justified if the result is good. All of them tell a different story witch make it a bit hard to understand what really happened but also shows the complexity of truth and memory. In the end, Kenzo opens fire and an Ex-officers son is seriously wounded. Kenzo is arrested for attempted murder and spends the last years of his life in prison in Hiroshima. Kenzo ultimately holds the emperor Hirohito responsible for the deaths of the soldiers. However, by making people recognize the crime and bring it up to the surface, he hopes to be able to prevent war and contribute to a better future and a more responsible mankind. Regardless if he achieves justice, Kenzo's story has been told, a story that probably never would have been told, acknowledged and talked about today. That Kenzo would be a better human being than all of the rest, may in the beginning have sounded as a naively thing to say about yourself, but in the end- he may have a point.

Devotion to Truth

[gentendo · 9/10 · 5 April 2009]

From the mere title alone, The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On is the true-life documentary of obsessive, army-in-one war veteran, Kenzo Okuzaki, and his march to unclothe the truth of certain events during World War II. Okuzaki is a severely committed, subservient, even violent disciple of truth. Thirty years after the war and having been in and out of prison, he travels great lengths to reveal the facts and hold responsible the men who unlawfully executed several soldiers in the regiment he served in during the war. With the victims parent's at his side, he travels to the homes of ex-military leaders who he believes are responsible for the deaths of innocent soldiers, essentially corners and interrogates them, tries to get them to fess up and take responsibility for their misdeeds, and resorts to violence when they refuse to apologize or speak.

In several scenes, Okuzaki is seen beating up elderly war veterans like himself, trying to squeeze the truth out of their reluctant, scared, and emaciated minds. He basically acts as a sort of pseudo-God. He's on "God's errand" to punish the wicked by either inflicting guilt upon their consciences, or using physical force to stir them up to repentance. In the true sense of the word, his tactics are amazing to watch, yet very disturbing. Though I do not fully agree with his tactics, I couldn't help but admire how dedicated and faithful he was in revealing the "truth" and serving what he believed was justice. He really believed in what he was doing, even if it made him appear like some religious zealot inebriated on fanaticism. However, his devotion to truth causes him to contradict himself. When the parents of one of the victims refuse to embark with Okuzaki on his journey to discover the truth about their son, Okuzaki finds pseudo-parents who act as the victim's son, yet are lying in order to emotionally stir up the military leaders (or 'pretending' if you want to give it a euphemism). It's ironic, then, that Okuzaki is the so-called orator, defender of truth just as long as you play by his rules. After all, he feels privileged to bend the rules, even to the extent of using violence or lying tactics if it means acquiring the truth from others. In essence, he's his own God.

At one point in the film, Okuzaki declares that violence is only good if it leads to a greater end. The end that Okuzaki desired was for war to never perpetuate again into the future. Thus, by using violence to get others to reveal the truth of their sins, he believed that wars would terminate, people would remember the past, and violence would be abolished. It seems a bit contradictory though: does violence stop violence? I'm torn on this issue. On one hand I look at what violence has done throughout history, and no matter how hard we try, violence has not ended violence, but has begot it. Perhaps we need to take a more Gandhian approach and use kindness to inflict hot coals upon wicked minds. On the other hand, I think of my religious convictions: If there is a God who doesn't intend for his children to behave violently, is there such a thing as Godly violence? Justified warfare? According to scriptural texts, there is: Deuteronomy 20, Section 98, 1Nephi 4. Yet to have God's stamp of approval, or better yet, commandment, to take or physically abuse another human life seems a burden I wish to never have thrust upon me. Was Okuzaki right for behaving the way he did? I can answer yes or no. Yes, that God sometimes uses the wicked to scourge the righteous up to repentance, as well as using the wicked to destroy the wicked. No, that I know God doesn't want me to behave that way.

To speak of war presupposes that violence is involved. War is violence (and vice versa). The film tries to be as objective as possible in showing the aftermath of what war does to people. It leads them to hell/prison. Okuzaki is on a mission to send unrighteous people to hell, uncaring of the negative consequences it may have upon himself. He demonstrated this courage when attacking the Emperor with a sling for denying responsibility of the murdered soldiers. The film ends the same way it started: Okuzaki has been released from prison only to find himself back in prison. The interesting point is that he always takes full responsibility for his actions, unlike those around him. He even full-heartedly admits at the beginning that he intends to go back to prison after inflicting "justice" upon the war-criminals. That he takes this responsibility is proof that people sentence themselves to their own private, hellish prisons, whether they admit to it or not.

Quite Extraordinary

[zzapper-2 · 10/10 · 9 October 2006]

I really can't think of any thing of I've seen to compare with this. This is true story of a man who just wanted to expose the needless executions of two fellow Japanese soldiers by their own side. Of all the deaths, of all the suffering in that most terrible of battles in New Guinea and forty years later he strives to expose the truth. Okuzaki is absolutely fearless of others, the police, of superiors of conventions. Absolutely marvellous. When you consider how many now a days are involved in revisionism. Incidentally an intimate view of Japan and the Japanese, going into real people's houses. Just see it don't read any more. Nobody's supposed to feel sorry for the bad guys, but the Japanese Army once all powerful really suffered in the last years, this just gives you a glimpse of that

Exceptionally strange.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 8 November 2014]

When this strange documentary begins, the viewer is left very confused because the context for what is occurring is missing. This is an odd way of doing this film, but so be it. After a while, you learn that Kenzo Okuzaki is angry--angry at the emperor and others...but why? Then, you slowly learn that it's about some atrocities that occurred in New Guinea during WWII. And, eventually you learn the story-- several Japanese soldiers were executed on trumped up charges and Okuzaki thinks it was to provide meat to the rest of the starving soldiers in his regiment! Yet, in the Japanese push to bury the past horrors of the regime, no one is sure what happened and the dogged Okuzaki is determined to track down all the surviving folks who can substantiate what happened and MAKE them talk. If that means beating the snot out of them or publicly shaming them, so be it-- as Okuzaki doesn't seem to care what might happen to him in the process! Okuzaki isn't alone in his quest, as a couple family members of the executed men accompany him. Additionally, a camera crew stands there and refuses to get involved when Okuzaki attacks folks or is attacked in turn! What's next? See the film.

This is an odd sort of film--sort of guerrilla style with Okuzaki and his friends surprising the folks that they want to question, as they just showed up and the film crew started filming! Normally, I would feel sorry for anyone who is set upon by a film crew like this, but the folks WERE war criminals! An interesting film and one that attempts to force the Japanese to finally acknowledge SOME of the WWII war crimes--so it is a very important film for fans of documentaries. But, its style is difficult to follow for some viewers, it's a bit overlong (and loses some of its punch because of this) and a prologue explaining everything would have been appreciated.

Very interesting if you can get your hands on it

[SuperSandra · 8/10 · 18 June 2006]

I watched this film for a modern Japanese narrative class, but would definitely recommend it to anyone else. The copy I had made it hard to read the subtitles sometimes, but it was usually pretty obvious what was going on, because at that point Okuzaki Kenzo was usually beating somebody up for not telling him the truth.

It is sometimes hard to believe that this film is a documentary, because you want it to be fiction. It is not easy to watch, but whole-heartedly worth it, because even though it forces you to think about a lot of uncomfortable things, WWII was a very uncomfortable time, so it's rather appropriate, that way.

Okuzai's mission for truth

[clara007 · 7/10 · 3 August 2009]

"Emperor's Naked Army Marches On" (yuki yuki shingun) is a documentary that tells the story of Okuzai, a former WWII hostage, who is haunted by the memory of the execution of two fellow Japanese soldiers weeks after the war had ended and sets out to find out the truth on who executed them and their reasons for doing so. The movie starts slow but soon we see how far he goes to try and get the suspects to tell him the truth, resorting to lying and physical violence. The protagonist simply doesn't care how he does it, whether he ends up in jail or if everyone dislikes him, as long as he gets answers, showing that he believes that violence is the means to an end.

Director Kazuo Hara goes to great lengths to tell the story and not be involved, turning the viewers and himself into a fly on the wall. This is made clear when he doesn't stop filming when a fearless Okuzai starts beating up an elderly man who has just had surgery. That scene is a perfect example of how real this movie feels, Hara does a great job of not showing us things they way we want them to be but rather the whole truth.

"Emperor's Naked Army Marches On" captured my whole and undivided attention from the beginning and I found myself cringing at Okuzai's violence, laughing at his attitude toward the police, shocked at his methods for uncovering the truth, and at times, even rooting for him to get answers for himself and for the murdered soldiers' families. But most importantly, Hara and Okuzai succeeded in showing the viewers another side to the WWII, which would still be a memory in the minds of the soldiers that were in New Guinea, hadn't it been for their persistence in finding the truth.

cinema verite

[jnine31 · 5/10 · 5 August 2009]

While I do not completely agree with the subject matter. The director does a great job at literally filming what is going on, without interfering in any way. The protagonist is in the process of getting beatin up in one scene, and the director just keeps filming and letting it happen. There is direct parallelism to what is going on currently with our country and Iraq, with this movie. This movie undoubtedly opens our eyes to things that were trying to be avoided or swept under the carpet without becoming public knowledge. The bottom line is that this movie is trying to make a difference in the next generation of youth, and while the topic is hard to stomach, and the actions of the protagonist definitely questionable it gets its point across as clear as possible. War is ugly, there is nothing pretty or wonderful about it. It is not clear cut who is bad and who is good, if/when you are out there on the battlefield anything is possible. The orders that you might get from higher ranking soldiers' are not always in the best judgment. The last thing to do is sweep the problem under the carpet. At least give the next generation a clear view of what to expect should they choose war. The protagonist is similar to many story's in which it is the sheer will of the human spirit that makes it. He wants the ex solider's to admit what really went on. He wants the truth to come out. Like I said before, his actions are definitely questionable, he beats up an old man who just had major surgery. He runs around like a mad man, and when they won't openly admit the wrong that has occurred and threaten to call the police on him, he calls the police first for them. All this sounds like the making of a lunatic, but it is precisely in his craziness that the truth is unfolded. This movie was banned in Japan, and while this part of history is not taught either this movie can still be used as a teaching mechanism in other countries. Japan prides itself on work ethic, and service. It is a country unlike any other, they have the lowest crime rate of any country along with the most order. There is a give and take in everything, a balance and harmony created. This director is notable, and important for the younger generations to come.

These guys make Michael Moore seem tame...and I LOVE it.

[marcelloltg · 8/10 · 4 August 2009]

Every society needs a man like Okuzaki and a documentarian like Hara. Sure, Okuzaki is certainly flawed and a little bit crazy, but he did what he needed to do in pursuit of the truth so that we could learn from and atone for our mistakes. I watched this film in my History of International Cinema class and I was so pleasantly surprised beyond anything I had expected for the class. I definitely was not aware (and I know I'm not the only one) that cannibalism and those kinds of atrocities took place during WWII. Once again, I am awed by the power of film not only to entertain, but inform, educate, and shape society. I hope someone will make a film like this about the war in Iraq.

Emperors March

[maxwelllifscutz · 10/10 · 1 August 2009]

I was very open minded going into this film, as it was a Japanese documentary, and I have never experienced such a thing. While the beginning started out a bit slow, it quickly caught my attention. The main character had one goal- to get the truth out of the soldiers who shot and killed their own men. I found it quite humorous at one point, when he would walk into their homes, say sorry for intruding, then insist that he will beat them up if they do not reveal the truth. His goal was simple. He had already been arrested and sentenced to time in the past, so he was not scared of this notion. What's even more funny is the camera man did not even do anything when the fighting's were going on, he insisted on continuing to shoot. This movie kept me on the edge of my seat for many parts of it, and some parts actually made me feel sorry for those he was beating up ( I.e the old man who just had surgery.) He had a mission, and certainly carried it out. Another funny part was when he used impersonators to help lure the people into giving him answers, so in a sense he was a hypacrit himself. He ends up spending time in jail at the end, though his story shall live on. Great overall film.

Uncomfortable but brilliant

[decembernaghi · 8/10 · 8 August 2009]

I can't say that watching "The Emperor's Naked Army" was an uplifting experience, or that it made me 'feel good.' Many times during the movie, I was uncomfortable; I was shocked, even disgusted by Okuzaki's behavior… but the documentary was brilliant. It was the utter definition of realism. Even when the protagonist started beating up people on camera, Hara kept filming. The result was somewhat mind-boggling. I mean, even with all his faults, Okuzaki gets results. By the end, I really started to wonder if maybe what he was doing was justifiable. This movie really was educational, though. I've learned about WWII many times in school, but I had no idea cannibalism ever occurred. I could barely believe my own eyes and ears! Never before have I seen something so raw and so real. Even though I hated the violence, I'm happy the world gets to see the truth. I've never seen a documentary like this. Michael Moore's movies are more for entertainment purposes than anything else, for example. But this goes back to what a documentary is really supposed to be. Showing the world the truth.

Fascinating Portrayal of a Man on a Mission

[pdmc-23460 · 8/10 · 5 February 2017]

It's no surprise that Shoehei Imamura helped with the planning of Kazuo Hara with his documentary film The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On (1987). It is just the kind of documentary that would appeal to Imaura-Hara follows Kenzo Okuzaki, a 62-year-old WWII veteran notorious for his protests against Emperor Hirohito, as he tries to expose the needless executions of two Japanese soldiers during the war. We learn at the beginning of the film that Okuzaki was imprisoned in Kobe for 13 years and 9 months for plotting to assassinate a former Prime Minister, shooting pachinko balls at the emperor with a sling shot, and distributing pornographic pictures of the Emperor outside a Tokyo department store. He is one of 30 surviving members of a platoon that fought in Papua New Guinea and he is driven to find out why two low ranking soldiers were executed for desertion 23 days after the war ended. Eventually, it comes out that the unpopular low ranking soldiers were executed for cannibalism for the superior officers. Ohuzaki is a piece of work-his sanity is never questioned and he will result to violence to get his answers on camera. These themes of WWII atrocities and anger at those who were in charge are common themes in the documentaries of Imamura as well. Ohkuzaki is aided by his loyal wife and by the end of the film he has gone back to Papua New Guinea to pray for the souls of dead Japanese soldiers, but he film shot there was confiscated by the Indonesia authorities. He decides that he should kill the officer who called for the execution of the two low ranking soldiers, but is unable to kill him tries to kill his son instead. The son survives and Okuzaki goes back to prison for attempted murder, soon after his wife dies. It is a fascinating film that brings up some unpleasant topics that most modern Japanese try to whitewash history-just as these war survivors try to live on as if these things had not happened.

Wow!

[ayala-nadia · 10/10 · 1 August 2009]

This could be as real as it gets, as far as documentaries go. The protagonist is trying to get the truth out and give some piece of mind to families about how their relatives died and why. In my opinion the Protagonist went to far on some cases. He got the answers he wanted but was it really worth it to spend most your life in solitary confinement? The Director is amazing to be able to film all these events and let the protagonist do things his own way and not get involved is unbelievable. the director takes a lot of risks and i believe that is why he made a great film that does not hide the truth, you see things as they are really happening not as he would like you to see them. Although I do not like how the protagonist approached things, he was strong man and new what he wanted and he would do anything to get it. His passion was to get the truth and that is what he did.

What did you do during the war?

[politic1983 · 8/10 · 30 April 2020]

Some documentaries are brought to life by the skill of the director; others don't need it as the subject is so compelling. Kazuo Hara's documentary about the journey for justice of Second World War veteran Kenzo Okuzaki fits into both categories, but as this one-man army takes on an army of war veterans, the man in front of the camera is as much directing the man behind it as vice versa.

At the suggestion of Shohei Imamura, Hara's documentary follows the voyage of Okuzaki to unearth the truth about the deaths of some soldiers stationed in New Guinea four decades after the end of the war. A well documented period of hell for all sides involved, Okuzaki has made it his personal mission to force soldiers involved in the deaths of three soldiers in two separate incidents. To do this, he goes, one-by-one, to each of the soldiers involved still alive demanding their confession as to what occurred. Naturally, he is met with reluctance.

His up-front questions, initially posed with a polite manner, are met with lies, claims of forgetting the exact details and a simple desire to not speak about what happened in the past. But Okuzaki is not a man to lie down at a half-hearted response. A former convict, as well as soldier, having spent a number of years in prison for murder and dissemination of pornographic material featuring the Emperor, as well as taking a shot at the man himself. If Okuzaki does not like the response, he becomes forceful, even violent, until he gets the answer he knows is correct.

Obviously, Okuzaki himself is not a man completely without sin, but having time to think over his deeds in lengthy prison terms, he is determined to see those he sees as responsible for war crimes exposed - the Emperor his most wanted man. He will use any means necessary until the truth is revealed.

Okuzaki is a violent spirit. While he is now a self-appointed judge on these former soldiers, his actions are far from on the right side of the law. To start, he approaches each with politeness, but at times unexpected to his poor 'victims.' Whether in the early hours, in the hospital or at their place of work, he shows up to talk, and he won't leave until he likes what he hears. Once sat down at the table, his determination knows no bounds. He is also happy to use the dark arts, with stand-ins for family members of the dead soldiers to further cajole the truth to the surface.

He is very non-Japanese in this way. The soldiers he confronts all would rather forget about the past. Seemingly having come to an agreement to never reveal the truth of what happened, this is the story they all initially stick to. The difficulties in Japan with accepting responsibility for what happened during the Second World War a firm example of the Japanese psyche for not lamenting on what has occurred and simply moving forward without question.

His persistence gradually exposes cracks; and like a good TV detective, he pushes these cracks on to the next witness to reveal more and more until the full story emerges. The truth is shocking, but one that Okuzaki is well aware of and takes in his stride. He is not so much concerned by what happened, but that those involved admit to it.

This is a push to take responsibility for what happened - he paid his time for his crimes, these soldiers should at least acknowledge and live with theirs, rather than simply pushing them aside. But these are not events that can ever be forgotten, hence why he doesn't accept initial meagre responses. While initially reluctant, eventually the soldiers talk about what happened as if in a therapy session. Okuzaki is an accuser, but also a facilitator, as if this is the moment they had been choosing to avoid, but knew one day would come.

Okuzaki is a fearless man, and so is Hara's camera. He follows his subject into the lives of these soldiers and keeps it rolling. This leaves very awkward, but also very revealing scenes of a determination on both sides, often resulting in violence; or a heated debate over a can of Fanta. Okuzaki knows where he wants Hara's camera to be, and Hara duly obliges. Unlike the war, all will be documented.

Okuzaki is the nucleus with everyone else the electrons spinning around him. Hara takes a step back to observe all that happens, not showing Okuzaki to be right or wrong, but simply a man determined. The real family members of the dead lose heart once more is exposed, and Okuzaki is not afraid to call them weak for this. He will keep fighting to the end. But by the end, like for all those involved, will he ever be able to truly reach peace? Not while the Emperor's army marches on (exposed, or otherwise).

politic1983.home.blog

Truth hurts, but truth will make you free.

[Dragon_Eye_Morrison · 7/10 · 22 June 2012]

There are always so many sides in a war, so many stories, so many angles. We come to think of these conflicts as just one side against another, with not much in between. The facts remain the same: the people who order these wars rarely, if ever, go to fight them. Who fight for them is the average man, either by conviction or force or a combination of both. This film is a view on the struggle of what was once an average man, who saw death and destruction, and just wants answers regarding the fate of his friends in a senseless conflict.

We follow him on his daily routine, his ritual of going to the streets and protest. In a society that punishes the will of the individual, that thinks remaining in silence is the right thing to do, our protagonist is seeing as an odd fellow. His countrymen just want to forget about this chapter in their history, they want to bury any memory regarding these events. Bury them for good, him included, but this man won't rest until he has his truth, no matter what, no matter the cost.

At many points during the film we will see him going into passive-aggressive outbursts, his frustration is contagious. The people he encounter avoid him with the most obtuse answers "i don't remember, i don't know, i wasn't there". When the man snaps and starts kicking another person you might not support his actions, but you can understand why he's doing it.

Hard to follow at times, but hard to stop watching it, this is a highly engaging docummentary. A naked emperor and his naked army marched once for empty promises made to an entire nation. History won't forget about this, no matter how hard some try to.

intense reality

[urlysun · 10/10 · 3 August 2009]

I watched this documentary film and it is as real as it can get. I am not against Kenzo for doing what he thinks he had to do. Actually I am proud of him for standing up for the families of the soldiers that were wrongfully killed. Kenzo is definitely not a coward at all. Obviously though he had a lot of anger inside that needed to be released. He goes out there in search for the truth of what actually had happened to some of the soldiers. Basically, he just wanted justice for the soldiers that were killed after the war. The film draws you in deep and makes you ask questions about certain reasons. I understand that Kenzo was frustrated and would get violent against the men that he interviewed, but he was just desperate to get the truth out of them. He wanted to disclose the wrong-doings of these military leaders and whoever else was on top so these criminal acts would not happen again in the future. It was an awareness message to the new generation that planned to join the military forces.

The Truth Can Hurt

[jimmyd1988 · 7/10 · 3 August 2009]

Despite its gruesome reality, "The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On" serves as a strong wake up call to me, and I'm sure the same goes for many others. Through some of the inhumane moments, we are shown the truth which not everyone wants to look directly in the eyes, especially if showing us the truth sometimes means lying to us as well.

So in the end, this film stands as an excellent model for showing us how things are, not the formalistic view of how we wish them to be - we should not suppress the truth! And in addition, I find Kazuo Hara and Kenzo Okuzaki's dedication to exploit the truth behind their film, very inspiring (but once again, "despite" their gruesome approach...).

Hard to look away

[Jeremy_Urquhart · 8/10 · 11 April 2022]

An uncomfortable but very engaging documentary, The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On (great title) follows a man named Kenzo Okuzaki who fought in WW2, deeply regrets his past, and uses extreme and confrontational methods to try and seek redemption, as well as expose higher-ups in the army who he believes committed some very confronting war crimes.

His motives start sympathetic, but as it goes on, it becomes more and more apparent that he's a deeply disturbed and often quite frightening individual. Perhaps a lot of it stems from the trauma of fighting in WW2, but it's hard to know for certain.

He makes for a very compelling central figure, and he's a big reason the film is so provocative and troubling to watch. Different viewers may feel different things of course, but I found supporting his cause but not all of his methods to make this something of an emotional/ethical roller coaster to watch.

I know it's the kind of movie that will stick with me, and I got a similar feeling from it that I got from 2012's The Act Of Killing. Each confronts difficult subject matter in a unique way, and each tells their stories and conveys themes without using voiceover narration or archive footage of the horrifying events discussed (sometimes, what you imagine is more horrifying).

I would rate this higher, but the one thing that holds it back a little is the final five minutes. There's a ton of dramatic developments that happen near the end of this story, but they're mostly conveyed in title cards right before the end credits roll, and it feels very abrupt. You still understand where Okuzaki's personal mission leads to, but you don't really feel the impact in the same way you feel the events that came before, which is a slight shame.

Other than that, this is a pretty great documentary- keeps you engaged and glued to the screen, but challenges you when it comes to the ideas and themes it presents.

A battle to reveal the truth.

[mr-resuello_raymar · 1 August 2009]

This incredible Japanese documentary puts you on the spot to sit and experience the hunt to expose the truth of the events of the war in the Pacific. A Japanese war veteran does his will to open up the past and find the truth on why some soldiers were killed by their own men in New Guinea. The horrible truth leads to cannibalism. The Japanese war veteran uses different tactics in order to get the truth out, from using violence and threats to gaining pity by getting the dead soldiers siblings involved. Though at times he is seen contradictory to his own beliefs, he believes he is sent on this mission for justification of the family members of the dead soldiers and to educate the future. His long battle in search for the truth leaves you with a shocking ending that truly expresses his passion and perception of the Japanese government. He makes his stand known and will never back down.