Red Angel update

Well finally, Masumura's Red Angel is available on dvd. I had mentioned the movie in a previous blog in September, and after some delay, it is here. This is a powerful war movie for the early to mid 60's, reminiscent of the American war films about Vietnam in the 80's. Ayako Wakao plays Nishi, a pretty nurse who is sent to China to work in the military hospitals. Japan had invaded Manchuria, and was looking to drive a deep wedge into the country, but had foolishly overestimated their power and underestimated the massive size of land and people. The Japanese attack was stretched thin and were being cut off from supply routes, and casualties were mounting. Behind the front lines, the injured and the dead were piling up in the maske shift hospitals. Nishi, during her first week at the hospital as a nurse, is raped by a patient. She reports him, and as punishment he is sent off to the front lines, where he is mortally wounded in combat. Nishi is sent to work with Dr. Akabe, who is literally knee deep with casualties, and for days straight they work tirelessly to tend to the wounded. They grow close, and Nishi falls in love with Akabe. She goes back to her first workplace, where she maintains her connection to Akabe by tending to an injured soldier who has lost both his arms. She revives him not only as a nurse, but also as a woman. However, giving him this treatment makes the soldier aware of his handicapped status, and he kills himself by jumping off of the roof. Nishi is devastated, but is told by the head nurse not to get so personal with the patients -- it's the only way the nurses can survive the war, by not thinking of them as men but soldiers. She goes back to work with Dr Akabe, and for three days straight they all tend to the hundreds of soldiers that come piling back from the front lines; massive casualties are incurred. In an unforgettable scene, nurses and doctors hack away at useless limbs, soldiers die before and during operation, and when things grow calm, they brush and mop up the pools of blood from the floor. It is a terrible situation. Dr. Akabe is assigned to the front lines, to help a doctor who is overwhelmed by the injured. Nishi volunteers to help, and they and a young recruited nurse join them. They never reach the front lines, but the rear guard, as they discover that they all have been cut off from the supply line, surrounded by the Chinese. They are planning a massive attack on the line, and everyone is planning for the worst. There is also an outbreak of cholera in the camp, first from the comfort women, then from the soldiers. Dr Akabe and Nishi declare their love for each other the night before the attack. At dawn, the Chinese attack, and everyone is wiped out, except for Nishi, who somehow survives by being buried under rubble. A group of Japanese soldiers arrive, having thwarted the attack, but Nishi is left disconsolate as he discovers Dr. Akabe's body in the field.

This is a well done film about the casualties of war, and a woman who because of her sex and her job is as much a victim of war as the soldiers who are being brutalized on the front. The black and white imagery is used to its fullest, taking advantage of the many night scenes, and the final battle which takes place at dawn. Ayako Wakao gives a fine performance. It is a Japanese film that looks at war the same way the US did about Vietnam much later. The documentary feel of the hospital scenes still shock, but are not as graphic as it could be, because of the lack of color. A well told story. Highly recommended.