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Soldiers are not the only ones who go to war. Mobilized along with the battalions of infantry, artillery and commanding officers are supporting squads of medics, surgeons and nurses. They are the ones who attempt to repair the damage done by enemy forces, to stitch the fighters back up so they can either be sent home as useless or sent back into the breech to kill or be killed. They too can become casualties of the conflict.
"Red Angel" ("Akai Tenshi") is the story of one of these nurses, a young and pretty woman named Nishi Sakura (Wakao Ayako) who is sent to support the war in China in 1939, one of the most horrible times in the 15-year long Pacific War. In the film, little is told of Nishi's backstory. Did she volunteer? Was she drafted? Was she a virgin? For us, her life begins the first night of her first shift as an army nurse, where she is brutally raped by one of the recuperating soldiers while the rest of the ward room watches, appreciative of the "entertainment". It is a harsh lesson for both Nishi as well as the viewers. This is not going to be a story about heroes.
Recovering from this initial horror, Nishi is only thrown deeper into the reality of working with men who have been reduced to beasts, who know that they will die soon enough so what does it matter what they do in the meantime. Trying desperately to retain her humanity, she tries to stitch the wounds and relieve the pain as best she can, pulling out hundreds of bullets in a single day and unable to wash the sent of blood from her hands. Into her life comes Dr. Okabe (Ashida Shinsuke), and older man who reminds her of her father. Okabe has lost his struggle, giving up his skills as a doctor and simply becoming a hacker at a butcher's shop, cutting off arms and legs whether they need it or not, simply because it is the easiest thing to do. A morphine addict, Okabe steals supplies to feed his habit, an addiction that has rendered him sexually impotent, and thus a perfect match for Nishi to fall in love with.
Director Masumura Yasuzo is not one of the most famous Japanese directors. He does not have the reputation of Kurosawa or Ozu, or even Gosha or Kobayashi. While not a genius or innovator, he is a skilled craftsman who can bring to life difficult scripts with inspired imagery. He often works with uncomfortable sexual situations, such as in his films Blind Beast, Manji and Afraid to Die. There is often a brutality associated with sex, and Red Angel is no exception. However, what is different here is the tenderness allowed between Okabe and Nishi, where Okabe's impotence allows him to be a non-aggressor. He still takes pleasure in pretty women, but pursues things no further than his condition allows him. Nishi, on the other hand, is desperate for sex coupled with affection, as opposed to the sex/death connection that has been her experienced up till now.
Aside from the sexual aspect of "Red Angel", the realities of a war-time surgical tent are shown in bold strokes. Limbs are cut off and carried away like an assembly line, and human beings are just so much meat. What Masumura could not do with color, this being a black and white film, he did with sound, with saws grinding bone and flesh producing more horror than any slasher flick. Soldiers come and go, one minute breathing and talking, the next minute a face in a body bag. But the doctors and nurses just keep on working through the gore, stitching up what they can, deciding who will live or who will die with nothing more than a few seconds triage.
I am really glad that Fantoma has brought so many of Masumura's films to DVD for Western audiences. He is an often overlooked director, although all of his flicks are worth watching. "Red Angel" is among his very best.
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A stil-modern take on the islands of humanity during the horrors of war
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.
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2021
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.
A stil-modern take on the islands of humanity during the horrors of war
Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2021
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.
Images in this review
Top reviews from other countries
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sleepyReviewed in Japan on March 25, 2016
没個人極限状況の中のエキセントリックな個人像。増村監督の「赤い天使」英import PAL盤
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- ANDRE ROSSIReviewed in the United Kingdom on November 22, 2019
A very good classic Japanese movie.
