Caterpillar

Among Koji Wakamatsu's films, "Caterpillar" is no doubt his best film yet. Unsettling but yet managing to retain the political message that Wakamatsu incorporates in his films.

For those who are familiar with Koji Wakamatsu's oeuvre and have looked at the filmmaker's history, you will know that he is well-known for his pink movie films of the '60s and '70s and his contribution to the "Pink Eiga" genre. To also know that he was a producer of Nagisa Oshima's controversial film "In the Realm of Senses" (1976) and similar to Oshima, willing to take on films that are not traditional style of storytelling in Japan and are known to have an edge.

But similar to Nagisa Oshima, Wakamatsu is also a rebel. In 2008, his film "United Red Army" was a docudrama on the tragedy of the Japanese radical left and America and in 2011, he began working on another political film based on the acclaimed novelist and political activist Yukio Mishima titled "1.25 Jiketsu No Hi, Mishima Yukio To Wakamonotachi" (11.25 the Day of Self Determination, Yukio Mishima and the Youth).

But if you explore Wakamatsu's work, you will realize that aside from his political films, he was known to create very low-budget films in his career that showcased sex and violence with political messages.

And in 2010, his film "Caterpillar" was screened and also competed for the Golden Bear at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival and earned actress Shinobu Terajim the Silver Bear Award for "Best Actress" at the 2010 Berlin Film Festival.

The film also received critical praise from critics and deemed as Wakamatsu's "masterpiece".

And now both "Caterpillar" and his docudrama "United Red Army" will be released in the United States on DVD courtesy of Kino Lorber Inc.

"Caterpillar" is an unnerving film that is set during the Second Sino-Japanese War and also World War II.

The film begins with three Chinese women trying to escape from Japanese soldiers. The women were raped and killed. The soldier who raped and killed a woman was Tadashi Kurokawa (played by Keigo Kasuya).

The story then showcases the arrival of Tadashi Kurokawa to his home. Being hailed as a war hero who fought for the Emperor and his country, the villagers celebrate his arrival.

And as his wife Shigeko and his family await for Tadashi arrive, they are absolutely shocked to see the condition that Tadashi is in.

Tadashi no longer has legs, no longer has arms and hands and part of his face is badly burned and scarred. He is also a mute and the only thing he has to show for his bravery is the three medals on his chest.

His father is shocked that the military would return Tadashi in such a condition since he can't work, he can't talk and possibly can't hear. But because Japanese honor their war heroes, the family including the villagers expect his wife Shigeko to take care of the war hero.

Shigeko is shocked at the sight of her husband. She can't believe that the military kept him alive in such a state and she is absolute repelled by how he looks. At first, tries to kill him by strangling him, but she can't.

Immediately, Tadashi tries to communicate with Shigeko and what he wants is to have sex. And because it's her duty as a wife to take care of the village's "war hero", she knows she must make him happy as part of her service to the country of Japan and the Emperor.

And the routine becomes daily as Tadashi continues to want sex all the time. All he can do is eat, sleep and have sex and it begins to have its toll on Shigeko as she has to do all the work to make ends meet, having to feed him and not having enough food for herself and then having to have sex with a man that can't really do anything but move like a "caterpillar".

VIDEO & AUDIO:

"Caterpillar" is presented in 16×9 (1:85:1 aspect ratio) and Japanese stereo 2.0 with English subtitles.

It's important to note that Wakamatsu films were not big-budget films. They were low-budget back in the '60s and he continues that trend today. And with "Caterpillar", similar to "United Red Army", you have the primary film footage but also archived footage from World War II. So, the quality does vary but in the case of "Caterpillar", the historical videos are used for the end to showcase Japan's loss to America by showing the viewer the dead bodies after Japan was bombed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

But for the most part, picture quality is good. I detected no major artifacts or damage, if anything, this film sounds good on DVD. Dialogue was understandable and subtitles were easy to read. Although, I will say that I was a bit surprised at the choice of subtitle fonts, instead of the helvetica or the usual sans-seriff fonts, something that looked like comic sans was used.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"Caterpillar" comes with trailers, no commentary or featurettes.

JUDGMENT CALL:

"Caterpillar" was an unnerving and a unique film from Koji Wakamatsu.

And in some ways, the film similar to Wakamatsu's previous films, to show the absurdity of Japan's militarism and propaganda.

We watch as the village that the Kurokawa's live in are dedicated to their country and the Emperor and celebrations for the young men of the village going to war is respected. The older men of the village wear their old war uniforms, the women learn how to attack dummies with a spear and through this celebration of Japanese military with men and women clad in white, standing around is one man in red robe constantly picking his nose.

You can't help but laugh and be intrigued by Wakamatsu's humor employed in his films. You know there is a message but how far would he go?

In some way, "Caterpillar" is a film that embodies Wakamatsu's career. It has the sex, the violence and the political message questioning Japan's past.

The character of Shigeko is wonderfully performed by Shinobu Terajima and the character continues to wonder if by pleasing her husband who has nothing but his torso and a constant hard-on is her service to Japan. And we start to see her emotional breakdown because her husband is reduced to a man that only sleeps, eats and wants to have sex all the time.

Her villagers remind her of the amazing service for Japan's military and are often feed propaganda of Japan winning the war. And so, she continues trying to work to survive, parading her husband to remind everyone of their service and to respect their war heroes and to give him pleasure when he asks for it.

The film is unsettling for its earlier scene of the rape and disemboweling of Chinese women. There are still people in Japan who refuse to believe that Japan had committed atrocities to the Chinese (especially in Nanjing) but Wakamatsu's opening is to show that not only did it happen, karma also came back with full force on Tadashi. But also letting everyone know that all those soldiers were also executed for their war crime which they fought for the name of Japan and their Emperor.

Overall, "Caterpillar" is no doubt the best Wakamatsu film I have seen by far and while there are those who criticized the film for looking low-budget, that is how Wakamatsu's films have been since the '60s. Low-budget but yet he has managed to entertain generations through his nontraditional ways of storytelling and filmmaking. Also, The performance by Shinobu Terajima as the wife, Shigeko Kurokawa was magnificent.

I don't think there is any film that can compare to "Caterpillar" and for anyone wanting to experience something different in Japanese cinema will no doubt want to check out this Koji Wakamatsu film!

Recommended!

By far the most conventional of Wakamatsu's films, Caterpillar is, nonetheless, extremely effective in its use of icons to construct an antiwar poem for all time: the reoccurring image of villagers throwing up their arms shouting "Banzai! Banzai!", the neatly framed portraits of the Emperor and Empress displayed next to the newspaper clipping and the hero's three war medals, the quadriplegic veteran forever lying behind the screen, routinely fed, cleansed and serviced by his wife (deftly played by Shinobu Terajima, for which she was named best actress at the Berlin International Film Festival). But the most indelible image is that of the "caterpillar" dressed up in coat, medals and hat, who is paraded around as the "War God" in a garden cart. This must be the most absurd yet dramatically charged image of insanity, group insanity, as villagers bow and officers salute. The "War God" is indeed a hell-being and within this mutilated man's mind we catch glimpses of horrors in repeated flashbacks. Interesting that also in "flashback" are brief clips of archival footage.

If you're new to Wakamatsu, this is certainly a good place to start. His knockout 2007 United Red Army is now also available on Lorber Films. Thank you! And, thank you Mr. Wakamatsu for sharing your genius.

Wow, I don't know where to start on this one. Well-acted and beautifully-filmed with some gorgeous scenic shots, as well as authentic news clips, it's the first Japanese film I've seen in which there was sex and nudity. It's an intense film that deals with many themes of both a political and personal nature. And, of course, the irony of how the War God really got injured, which was a total surprise to me. Overall, I feel it was a good film, although a total downer.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 4 reviews  3.8 out of 5 stars