Films about Japanese Red Army and Anarchists

[Roland Domenig]

> Are there any films dealing with this group? I mean films
> focussing on the group itself, the political
> background, the fate of its members.

there are several films dealing with the 'japanese red army' or better the
red armies for there existed several of them: the (kyosan shugisha domei)
sekigunha, the rengo (or toitsu) sekigun, the arab sekigun later renamed
nihon sekigun, as well as splinter groups like the maoist ML sekigunha or
the sekigunha nihon iinkai. together with other groups such as the higashi
ajia hannichi buso sensen that pursue(d) similar goals they are generally
referred to as kagekiha (extremists).
the news film SEKIGUN PFLP SEKAI SENSO SENGEN (red army pflp declaration of
world war, 1971) by adachi masao and wakamatsu koji is the only film where
the red army (in this case the sekigunha respectively the arab sekigun) is
credited as co-editor (together with the pflp). fictional films from
wakamatsu and adachi such as TERORU NO KISETSU (season of terror, 1969),
SEIZOKU/SEKKUSU JAKKU (sex-jack, 1970), MARUHI JOSHI KOSEI KOKOTSU NO
ARUBAITO (secret high school girl - side-job in ecstasy, 1972) or TENSHI NO
KOKOTSU (angelic orgasm, 1972) do deal with terrorism as well. yamamoto
shunya, another famous pink eiga director, made PORUNO SOKATSU KYOKI NO
YOKUJO (passion of madness, 1972) after the asama sanso incident. after
adachi left for lebanon in 1974 wakamatsu koji kept on referring to the
sekigun in films like BAISHINFU MARIA (prostitute maria, 1975), SEIBO KANNON
DAIBOSATSU (sacred mother kannon, 1977) or (briefly) in KISU YORI KANTAN
(easier than kissing, 1989).
although wakamatsu and other directors frequently related to the sekigun,
there were almost no films that directly dealt with the japanese red army or
leftist terrorism. the first films that directly addressed this important
chapter of japanese history were takahashi banmei's HIKARI NO AME (rain of
light, 2001) and harada masato'S TOTSUMYU SEYO! ASAMA SANSO JIKEN (the
choice of hercules, 2002). i've heard that hasegawa kazuhiko who for more
than 20 years had a filmproject about the rengo sekigun simmering is now
finally realize it. in documentary film tsuchiya yutaka in ATARASHII
KAMISAMA (the new god, 1999) sent amamiya karin to north korea to meet the
sekigun members that hijacked the yodo-go in 1970.
i'm sure that more films about the sekigun and the terrorism of the 60s and
70s will follow (perhaps from adachi who is back again in the film business)
and eventually this could even become a boom like the recent RAF-boom in
german cinema.    


roland domenig
institute of east asian studies
vienna university