Red Angel

After humbling themselves post-WW2, Japanese war films took on a decidedly grim tone early on, casting aside the propaganda that continued in American cinema until the late ‘60s.  Armed conflict was brutal, ugly and pointless; and Yasuzo Masumura’s Red Angel (1966) makes sure audiences get the point.

Sakura Nishi (Ayako Wakao) is a nurse serving on the front lines during the Second Sino-Japanese War, not only dealing with ravaged bodies and severed limbs but the violently overactive libidos of soldiers who fear no consequences.  After being raped on the medical ward, Nishi struggles to rise above her feelings for revenge, even pleading with Dr. Okabe (Shinsuke Ashida) to save her attacker’s life.  Her mercy strikes a chord in the cynical physician and the two develop a complicated relationship that struggles to survive in the midst of near constant chaos.

 

Red Angel is a love story of sorts.  Nishi does more that stitch up wounds and plug bullet holes; she uses her endless supply of sympathy – as well as her own body – to soothe the souls of the wounded.  Of course, her most important patient is Dr. Okabe himself, whose drug addiction and nihilistic attitude has manifested itself physically in an emasculating case of impotency.  And despite their professed love for one another (an overly sentimental conclusion for a film so unapologetically cynical), one can’t help that think Nishi would move on to the next needy soldier once a “cure” finally took hold.

 

Masumura’s film may have its share of emotional inconsistencies, but it’s modern take on the horrors of war – which mirrors the efforts of cult director Samuel Fuller - still packs a punch:  amputations with no anesthetic, cholera epidemics, rape, suicide are all captured with painful detail.  Even scenes that could have come across as crassly exploitive – like Nishi sexually satisfying an armless soldier on the ward – are islands of humanity in a world where life is cheap and morals are expendable.   

 

Arrow Video’s has done well by Masumura in the past and they’ve added yet another beautiful Blu-ray to the catalog.  The special edition includes an introduction, audio commentary, visual essay, trailer, image gallery and fantastic new box artwork.

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