User reviews

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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...).

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.