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The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On
(Yuki Yukite shingun)

Screening on Film
Directed by Hara Kazuo.
Japan, 1987, 16mm, color, 122 min.
Japanese with English subtitles.
Print source: George Eastman House

Hara turns his probing camera on Kenzo Okuzaki, a World War II veteran whose crusade against Emperor Hirohito brought him prison terms for murder and for shooting pachinko balls at the Royal Palace. When Okuzaki seeks out members of a squadron who were responsible for the death of two of their own soldiers, his pursuit grows strange and unexpected, his tactics becoming more and more aggressive until he physically attacks anyone who resists his inquiries. Although fully engaged in the filming process, Hara’s reserved, observational position allows his volatile subject to express his unpopular political position with reckless abandon.

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