1951-1960 Drama Japan Satsuo Yamamoto War

Satsuo Yamamoto – Shinkû chitai AKA Vacuum Zone (1952)

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During the winter of 1944, Kitani, a soldier, returns to his unit in Osaka after a two year absence. None of the men inducted with him are left, and his new comrades greet his sulky attitude with suspicion and resentment. The men have been told that Kitani was in hospital during his absence, whereas he was actually in prison: caught between two officers competing for a lucrative position, Kitani had been accused of stealing a wallet belonging to Hayashi, a First Lieutenant. The resulting inquiry had extended into Kitani’s personal life, with letters written to his lover construed as expressing anti-military sentiments.

Believing the army to be corrupt, chaotic and isolated from the real world, Kitani confides in one of his comrades, who describes the army as a ‘vacuum zone’. When word spreads that Kitani was really in prison, the men begin to taunt him by referring to him as the ‘ex-con’. Kitani finally breaks, and sets about mercilessly punishing both his comrades and Hayashi.

Yamamoto was a member of the Japanese Communist Party, and made this film after leaving the studio system during a period of left-wing labor strikes in Japan.