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“From breathless history lesson to grueling chamber piece to tense action thriller.” - New York Times
One of Japan's most controversial filmmakers, Koji Wakamatsu (Ecstasy of the Angels and Red Army/PFLP: Declaration of War, both showing in this year's Eros + Massacre section) reconstructs a shocking episode in the bloody history of Japanese radical extremism.
Emerging out of the 60s anti-US Vietnam War protests, the radical left-wing Japanese Red Army went on to wage a campaign of terror - hijacking planes, attacking embassies and bombing buildings - all the while carrying out violent internal purges to guard against ‘anti-revolutionary elements'.
Wakamatsu - who befriended three members of the group in the early 70s - here presents a spellbinding document of the rise and disintegration of a revolutionary movement, and a study of the perils of extremist ideology.
Winner of multiple awards at the Berlin and Tokyo film festivals.
--- D/P Koji Wakamatsu S Masayuki Kakegawa, Asako Otomo, Koji Wakamatsu WS Dissidenz International L Japanese w/English subtitles TD 35mm/2008