Arquivo / 49ª mostra

A portrait of Ikka Kita, a charismatic, theoretical right-wing nationalist of the thirties who exerted a great deal of influence on his generation and was executed following a coup d’état that brought to power a military faction favorable to strengthening the authority of the emperor. The film begins ten years before Kita was executed by a firing squad, with the assassination of an influential capitalist by a disciple of the nationalist leader. The narrative juxtaposes the idea of freedom of thought and a revolutionary act, in a cold, detailed view of the political and military movement of February 26, 1936, with emphasis on the irrational passion of the military in their support to the imperial regime.