Men and War

1970 · Movie · 197 min. · Japan

Yamamoto Satsuo directed this masterful 9 hour epic trilogy on the effects of war on the five generations of a single Japanese family. Based on Gomikawa Jumpei's (The Human Condition) bestselling novel, the film trilogy skillfully blends newsreel and archive footage with an all-star cast, exotic locations, and beautiful cinematography. The first part follows the rise of the Godai clan rise from war-profiteers to their becoming powerful industrialists in Japanese-occupied Manchuria during the 1930s. The second part follow the the stories of two brothers serving in different units of the Imperial Japanese army from 1935 to 1937 when Japan launched a full scale invasion of China. The third and final part details the family’s trials during the Sino-Japanese War to the Soviet army's invasion of Japanese-occupied Northeastern China at the end of World War II.

Direction Satsuo Yamamoto

Cast Kei Yamamoto · Hideki Takahashi · Mizuho Suzuki · Shinsuke Ashida · Ruriko Asaoka · Osamu Takizawa · Etsushi Takahashi · Kanzaburo Nakamura · Yoshio Aoki · Takao Ito · Yujiro Ishihara · Chieko Matsubara · Mitsuko Mito · Koji Takahashi · Hideaki Nitani · Rentarô Mikuni · Go Kato · Kyôko Kishida · Tsugiaki Yoshida · Takahiro Tamura · Komaki Kurihara · Tetsurô Tanba · Gaku Yamamoto