User reviews

A quintessential antiwar film crafted by Shin'ya Tsukamoto, featuring stunning cinematography and a gripping narrative that looms heavily over the audience. This film evokes a sense of war-induced horror that lingers even after the battles have ceased. The central figure connecting all the characters is a young boy, portrayed brilliantly by Tsukao Oga, who becomes an orphan due to firebombing. He navigates a world filled with adults who have succumbed to various forms of madness in the wake of conflict, where the black market overshadows community support amid scarce resources. The orphan transforms into a commodity within a dual narrative structure-part intense chamber drama, part road film. For a young widow (Shuri), who resorts to selling her body for survival, he serves as a substitute for her lost child, while a traumatized veteran (Kono Hiroki), who joins their makeshift family in a devastated tavern, finds solace in teaching the boy. In the latter part of the film, Tsukao's character discovers a loaded handgun, turning him into a pawn for a revenge-seeking demobilized soldier (Moriyama Mirai), who enlists him as an unwitting accomplice in a plot to assassinate a superior officer responsible for war crimes.

The film is heavy, unfiltered, and presents the realities of war and its aftermath with unyielding intensity.

Piercing calls of Japanese hawks, nightmares of the fire bombings, dark alleys filled with the sick and nearly dead, and desperate people struggling to survive in the rubble, ruins of cities, and aftermath of the world war. Cruelty and addiction come back to bite you if such are your practices. The resourceful and clever survive. Just a little bit of kindness means the world to someone. Live your best life.

Natural light and movement flood the beautiful frames in Shinya Tsukamoto's trilogy focusing on a few individuals living in the shadow and fear of war. Tsukamoto answered questions following the North American premier of the film at the Toronto International Film Festival. Just looking into his eyes close by I could see he was thoughtful and imaginative. The form of the film combines with the themes in striking, heartfelt ways. It is a meditation on beauty, darkness, and living.