IMDb RATING
7.0/10
1.4K
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From June 1944, twelve Japanese seamen are stranded for seven years on an abandoned and forgotten island called Anatahan.From June 1944, twelve Japanese seamen are stranded for seven years on an abandoned and forgotten island called Anatahan.From June 1944, twelve Japanese seamen are stranded for seven years on an abandoned and forgotten island called Anatahan.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
Tadashi Suganuma
- Kusakabe, Husband of Keiko
- (as Suganuma)
Kisaburo Sawamura
- Kuroda
- (as Sawamura)
Shôji Nakayama
- Nishio
- (as Nakayama)
Jun Fujikawa
- Yoshisato
- (as Fujikawa)
Hiroshi Kondô
- Yanaginuma
- (as Kondo)
Shozo Miyashita
- Sennami
- (as Miyashita)
Tsuruemon Bando
- Doi
- (as Tsuruemon)
Kikuji Onoe
- Kaneda
- (as Kikuji)
Rokuriro Kineya
- Marui
- (as Rokuriro)
Daijiro Tamura
- Kanzaki
- (as Tamura)
Chizuru Kitagawa
- A Homesick One
- (as Kitagawa)
Takeshi Suzuki
- Takahashi
- (as Suzuki)
Shirô Amakusa
- Amanuma
- (as Amikura)
Josef von Sternberg
- Narrator
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe plot is based on the actual story of one Japanese woman and 30-odd Japanese soldiers and sailors who remained on the island of Anatahan from June 1944 to 1951, when they were evacuated by the US Navy six years after the end of WWII. Due to inter-male conflicts about the woman, as well as probably disease and starvation, only 20 men survived. One of the survivors wrote the book "Anatahan" the movie is based on. However, Sternberg reduced the number of males to 13 for narrative purposes. (Source: Wikipedia ENG & FR and related links.)
- Crazy creditsIn the English-language version, all of the Japanese cast and crew members except Akemi Negishi are billed solely by their last names.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Cinéastes de notre temps: D'un silence l'autre (1967)
- SoundtracksAsatoya yunta
Composed by Chôhô Miyara
Sung by men with alternate lyrics
Featured review
The perfect end to a brilliant career
This film actually had a run in Paris outside the Cinematheque and it attracted considerable attention. It's an audacious,in-your-face sort of quirky film that works on many levels. Sterberg's autobiography "Fun in a Chinese Laundry" spells out some of techniques he employed but the film needs to be experienced beyond a mere description. It was shot in an airplane hangar to begin with, with all the tinsel and tin foil representing an island jungle. The limited number of players (all non-professional) and space (on an island) make this more of a chamber work rather than the Hollywood cast of thousands and its subdued drama will disappoint some who want things to be more explicit. It's purely artificial and looks that way deliberately. The film is in Japanese without subtitles and the narrator in English is none other than Sternberg himself. He warns the audience of what will happen BEFORE it happens, thus leaving us free to discover the camera-work, the scenery and the atmosphere minus the drama. Drama there is, of course, but detached from what's happening on screen. Everything in the film - minus the very last shot, alas - is artificial, dream-like and absolutely fascinating. What a remarkable end to a remarkable career. I highly recommend it although I wouldn't know how to find it. Good luck!
Curtis Stotlar
Curtis Stotlar
helpful•190
- cstotlar
- Jul 3, 2008
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- The Devil's Pitchfork
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $8,171
- Gross worldwide
- $8,171
- Runtime1 hour 31 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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