MotW: Men Behind The Sun

I watched it last year.

Wow, all I can say is that this film really does deserve all the controversy it has gotten ever since it was released. I'm not even a japanese nationalist or anything and I can still see why people got so outraged over this film after it hit theaters.

The abuse of women in the film didn't bother me (it's historically accurate). The cat experiment scene didn't bother me (I don't believe the cat was actually killed). The pressure tank scene didn't bother me. But what did bother me and what did cross the line for me from a film making perspective was the child nudity. There's a scene where a kid is stripped naked in front of the camera. Never mind the fact that he's shown being killed and operated on in the very next scene. Never mind the fact that an actual child cadaver was used (though that alone is almost as disturbing). It's the fact that a real live boy was ordered to strip naked in front of a camera that utterly sickens me to the point where I wanted to barf. It was pornographic. It FELT pornographic to watch. Utterly disgusting and I feel so sorry for that kid who had to act in that part. It reminds me of all the outrage over Terri Shields decision to have Brooke shields pose nude for pornographers early in her career as a child actor. It kind of stuff is just unacceptable and objectively bad film making. There is no reason they had to show me the viewer a naked boy. Unacceptable. End of story.

However, with that said, I still think The Men Behind the Sun is a fascinating and commendable film for all of the things the film makers weren't afraid to do. For me this film represents a fascinating glimpse in the world of Hong Kong film making, a movie industry with a record for having the leanest protection laws of any film industry on Earth. Jackie Chan himself has gone on record as saying that he considers all of his american films inferior to his Hong Kong films because the laws of the american film making industry prohibited him and any other screen actors from performing all of his own stunts. When you take a look at his catalogue of stunt work from his Hong Kong films, it's not hard to see why he feels that way:





I mean, damn. Jackie Chan is right. (RIP old Cinemassacre)

I give The Men Behind the Sun a 4/5. It's not a perfect film but it certainly is interesting, and it's not hard to see why it's one of the most controversial films ever made. For example: I would probably give it a five out of five, but the full-frontal child nudity in that one scene takes it down a notch for me.