United Red Army (film)

2007 film by Kōji Wakamatsu

United Red Army

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Kōji Wakamatsu
Screenplay by| Masayuki Kakegawa
Kōji Wakamatsu
Based on| United Red Army
by Masayuki Kakegawa
Produced by| Muneko Ozaki
Starring| Akie Namiki
Go Jibiki
Maki Sakai
Arata
Cinematography| Yoshihisa Toda and Tomohiko Tsuji
Edited by| Takeshi Seyama
Music by| Jim O'Rourke
Distributed by| Wakamatsu Productions

Release dates

* August 26, 2007 (2007-08-26) (Yufuin Film Festival)
* March 15, 2008 (2008-03-15) (Japan)

Running time

| 190 minutes
Country| Japan
Language| Japanese
Budget| ¥200 million[1]

United Red Army (実録・連合赤軍 あさま山荘への道程, Jitsuroku Rengōsekigun Asama-Sansō e no Dōtei) is a 2007 film written, directed and produced by Kōji Wakamatsu. It stars Akie Namiki as Hiroko Nagata and Go Jibiki as Tsuneo Mori, the leaders of Japan's leftist paramilitary group, the United Red Army. Akie Namiki was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress at the 2008 Asia Pacific Screen Awards.

## Story

[edit]

The film is told in three acts, beginning with a historical background of Japan's student movement of the 1960s and early 1970s, mostly using archive footage and a narrator. The second act follows the formation of the group to their mountain training camps in the southern Japanese Alps. It emphasizes the dogmatic (and eventually hypocritical) bullying of the group by Mori and Nagata, with 12 members being killed. The third act shows the splitting up of the group after two members run off. It follows one group of five members to Karuizawa and a hostage-taking and police standoff known as the Asama-Sansō incident.

## Production

[edit]

In order to make the film Wakamatsu mortgaged his home (which he destroyed in the movie) and distributed it himself. The actors were not allowed to wear make-up, had to arrive on set already in costume, and had their agents and managers banned during filming.[2] The musical score is by the American composer and musician Jim O'Rourke.[3]

## Reception

[edit]

United Red Army has a 93% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 14 critics. The film holds a 67/100 average on Metacritic.[4] It was Jordan Hoffman's choice in IndieWire's 2018 list of the best Japanese films of the 21st century.[5]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ 若松監督私費２億投入「連合赤軍－」初日 Accessed April 20, 2009
2. ^ United Red Army Subway Cinema. Accessed April 20, 2009
3. ^ Lim, Dennis (2008-06-22). "Soft-Core Auteur Turns Attention to Radicals". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-01-04.
4. ^ United Red Army, retrieved 2021-01-10
5. ^ Ehrlich, David (2018-03-26). "The Best Japanese Films of the 21st Century — IndieWire Critics Survey". IndieWire. Retrieved 2021-01-10.

## External links

[edit]

* Lim, Dennis (2008-06-22). "Soft-Core Auteur Turns Attention to Radicals". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-01-04.
* United Red Army at IMDb
* United Red Army at Rotten Tomatoes
* United Red Army Official Movie Site[usurped]

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Kōji Wakamatsu

* Secrets Behind the Wall (1965)
* The Embryo Hunts in Secret (1966)
* Violated Angels (1967)
* Go, Go Second Time Virgin (1969)
* Ecstasy of the Angels (1972)
* Ready to Shoot (1990)
* Erotic Liaisons (1992)
* United Red Army (2007)
* Caterpillar (2010)
* 11:25 The Day He Chose His Own Fate (2012)

* v
* t
* e

New Left in Japan

Events|

* Anpo protests
* Sanrizuka Struggle
* 1968–1969 Japanese university protests (Shinjuku riot)
* Folk guerrilla concerts
* Japan Airlines Flight 351
* Asama-Sansō incident
* Bombing of the Soji-ji Ossuary
* Lod Airport massacre
* Bombing of the Fusetsu no Gunzo and Institute of Northern Cultures
* Japan Airlines Flight 404
* 1974 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries bombing
* 1974 French Embassy attack in The Hague
* 1975 AIA building hostage crisis
* Japan Airlines Flight 472

Key figures|

* Michiko Kanba
* Kan'ichi Kuroda
* Tsuneo Mori
* Hiroko Nagata
* Makoto Oda
* Ryū Ōta
* Fusako Shigenobu
* Takaya Shiomi
* Mitsu Tanaka
* Mitsuko Tokoro
* Takaaki Yoshimoto

Groups|

| Insurrectionary|

* East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front
* Japan Socialist Youth League, Liberation Faction
* Red Army Faction
* Japanese Red Army
* United Red Army

|

Multi-tendency|

* Beheiren (Citizen's League for Peace in Vietnam)
* Zengakuren (post–1958)
* Zenkyōtō

Trotskyist|

* Communist League (Japan)
* Japan Revolutionary Communist League
* Japan Revolutionary Communist League, National Committee (Central Core Faction)
* Japan Revolutionary Communist League (Revolutionary Marxist Faction)

Influences|

| Ideological|

* Ainu Revolution Theory
* Anti-imperialism
* Anti-Japaneseism
* Maoism
* Pacifism
* Self-criticism
* Trotskyism
* Women's liberation (Japan)

|

International|

* Anti-Americanism
* Anti-Stalinist left
* Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War

Representation in media|

| Film|

* Night and Fog in Japan (1960)
* Ecstasy of the Angels (1972)
* 69 (2004)
* United Red Army (2007)
* Children of the Revolution (2010)

|

Literature|

* 69
* Hear the Wind Sing
* Norwegian Wood

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