CAUTION SPOILER
On the whole, this movie is very interesting to me. It seems to me that this film reflects the director's strong feeling for history of 20th century. In that sense, this movie has aspects similar to 'The Pianist' by Polanski.
As the previous reviewers of IMDb point out, this movie has many flaws. I have to agree that Japanese actors don't show a good work--especially when they speak English--, that using English instead of German or Russian misses a large part of reality in this film, that too much computer graphics is used, et cetera.
But these flaws never exhaust this movie's details. The viewers should appreciate orchestral music, harmonious muted color-tone, some actors' a bit caricatured action. In addition to these details, the director-writer carefully depicts the political scene in 1930s' Japan, which include Emperor Hirohito and Prime Minister Konoe.
But what I find the most impressive is his treatment of communism. He seems to be trying to let the viewers remember that there was a time when many people, even highly intellectual in their own way, believe in communism. And because of this, the VTRs showing the collapse of Berlin Wall and a statue of Lenin are very moving. I think our hero communists' struggles were worth telling in order to know the historical meaning of the events in late 20th century. 9/10
On the whole, this movie is very interesting to me. It seems to me that this film reflects the director's strong feeling for history of 20th century. In that sense, this movie has aspects similar to 'The Pianist' by Polanski.
As the previous reviewers of IMDb point out, this movie has many flaws. I have to agree that Japanese actors don't show a good work--especially when they speak English--, that using English instead of German or Russian misses a large part of reality in this film, that too much computer graphics is used, et cetera.
But these flaws never exhaust this movie's details. The viewers should appreciate orchestral music, harmonious muted color-tone, some actors' a bit caricatured action. In addition to these details, the director-writer carefully depicts the political scene in 1930s' Japan, which include Emperor Hirohito and Prime Minister Konoe.
But what I find the most impressive is his treatment of communism. He seems to be trying to let the viewers remember that there was a time when many people, even highly intellectual in their own way, believe in communism. And because of this, the VTRs showing the collapse of Berlin Wall and a statue of Lenin are very moving. I think our hero communists' struggles were worth telling in order to know the historical meaning of the events in late 20th century. 9/10