Army is currently streaming on The Criterion Channel

Army (1944)87 minDrama, WarRating 50/100

Kinoshita’s ambitious and intensely moving film begins as a multigenerational epic about the military legacy of one Japanese family, before settling into an emotionally complex portrayal of parental love during wartime. As the mother and father of a boy shipped off to battle, Kinuyo Tanaka and Chishu Ryu locate profound depths of feeling that transcend ideology.

Cast: Chishū Ryū, Kinuyo Tanaka, Eijirō Tōno, Ken Uehara, Ken Mitsuda, Haruko Sugimura, Kazumasa Hoshino

Director: Keisuke Kinoshita