World War II just ended, and a
company of Japanese soldiers struggle to
cope. A private played by Shoji Yasui
tries by attempting to get a hold-out
company of countrymen to surrender to the
British and is drawn into a personal and
spiritual odyssey. Kon Ichikawa’s classic
was adopted from a young-adult novel and bears some of those wide-eyed hallmarks, but moves nonetheless. -Lee Gardner

1956 Kon Ichikawa 1.37:1 B&W DCP 116 min. In Japanese with subtitles.