A 62-year-old Japanese war vet hunts down his former officers, beats them bloody, and uncovers tales of cannibalism while investigating two mysterious WWII deaths.
I found this one in Jeremy Urquhart’s “The 10 Best Non-American War Documentaries of All Time”.
Trailer for “The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On”
You Can’t Make This Sh!t Up
- Okuzaki hunts down his former army bosses and beats them up on camera. One elderly veteran ends up bleeding. Okuzaki doesn’t care. He boasts, “Violence is my forte.”
- Two Japanese soldiers were executed in New Guinea AFTER World War II ended. Some veterans say they were killed for deserting. Others claim they were punished for eating Indigenous people.
- Okuzaki once shot steel balls at Emperor Hirohito with a slingshot! He also killed a real estate broker and spent years in prison before filming this doc.
Watch “The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On”
You can watch “The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On” on The Criterion Channel, Apple TV, and Prime Video.
Ratings:
- My Rating: 91/100
- IMDB Rating: 8.1/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: 90/100 (Users); 100/100 (Critics)
Director’s Note: Kazuo Hara directed this 122-minute documentary. Hara is known for filming people who challenge society and authority. His earlier films include “Goodbye CP” (1972), about people with cerebral palsy, and “Extreme Private Eros: Love Song 1974” (1974), about his former partner.
Release Date: 1987 (Japan)
Other Unique Stuff
- Starvation killed more Japanese troops than enemy bullets in New Guinea. Soldiers were trapped in the jungle with almost no food or medicine.
- Okuzaki brings victims’ families face-to-face with their loved ones’ former officers. He wants answers about what happened nearly 40 years earlier.
Wrap Up:
“The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On” is one of the strangest war documentaries I’ve seen because the man exposing the violence of Japan’s military is himself capable of shocking violence.
Thanks for reading!
Heather Fenty, Guest Writer, Daily Doc