Fort Graveyard / Chi to suna (1965) Kihachi Okamoto, Toshirô Mifune, Makoto Satô, Reiko Dan, Drama, War

fort-graveyard-1965
Charged with insubordination for punching a superior, Sergeant Kosugi is shipped to China in the last desperate days of the Second World War. His commander, Captain Sakuma, is vicious and dictatorial. Sakuma places Kosugi in charge of training for combat what once was the military band. Kosugi must somehow prepare his inept soldiers for the rigors of combat.

“Fort Graveyard” (1965) or “Chi to suna” is a very good war movie. It doesn’t question the right or wrong of Japanese soldiers fighting in China in World War 2 so much as it questions war itself, and then not in a one-sided way. The story operates on several levels with several themes, being composed of a series of linked characters and sub-plots. The movie is on Youtube at present with clear English subtitles and in widescreen.

The masterful Toshirô Mifune plays a sergeant who takes about 14 young musicians to whom he gives rudimentary training into a battle to retake a fort from the Chinese. As in many American war movies, the men come together as a unit and the instincts that support fighting and making war begin to emerge. These range from hatred and blood lust to courage and even nobility, which is why I said that the depiction of war is not one-sided. The anti-war message nevertheless comes through loud and clear in many ways, without being heavy-handed about it.

The staging of battles is well above average. One doesn’t even think of them as being staged.

The young recruits are mostly virgins and a major subplot involves a comfort woman (Reiko Dan) who services soldiers. She’s in love with Mifune and follows the men to the front. Her part introduces a large amount of humanity in an unexpected place and helps show another level of the transition of boys into men. Her role is treated with respect.

The band likes to play “Oh When the Saints”. It represents many alternatives to war: spirituality, harmony, joy, togetherness. A Chinese prisoner takes to the flute when the flautist is killed.

But make no mistake. There is a great deal of killing in this movie and the idea that war forces the choice “kill or be killed” is made clear again and again.

Director Kihachi Okamoto was drafted in 1943 and survived, while many did not. We can well imagine how that contributed to his writing this story. However, his technique is not polemical. He suffuses war with humor much of the time.

I liked the movie. I was drawn into it once Mifune appeared after what seemed to me to be a slow and rather slapstick start. I thought that it ran long at 132 minutes and would have benefited by some editing. I thought the movie did quite well at bringing out a good many side characters. John Ford and “Stagecoach” were favorites of the director and this shows.

Okamoto was unafraid to make a point of showing Japanese soldier heroics and bravery, even while showing the ultimate futility of the fighting. But it also showed the Chinese tenacity and willingness to sacrifice to hold their territory.

fort-graveyard-1965-1

IMDB

DVDRip | MKV | 712 x 364 | x264 @ 1650 Kbps | 131 min | 1,81 Gb
Audio: Japanese AC3 2.0 @ 224 Kbps | Subs: English (srt)
Genre: Drama, War

download free

Forgreiv.part1.rar
Forgreiv.part2.rar
Forgreiv.part3.rar
Forgreiv.part4.rar

Random posts

Among the Living (1941) Stuart Heisler, Albert Dekker, Susan Hayward, Frances Farmer
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1947) Alberto Cavalcanti, Derek Bond, Cedric Hardwicke, Mary Merrall, Drama
Wait Until Spring, Bandini (1989) Dominique Deruddere, Joe Mantegna, Ornella Muti, Faye Dunaway
Legend of the Lost (1957) Henry Hathaway, John Wayne, Sophia Loren, Rossano Brazzi, Adventure, Drama
Magiki polis / The Magic City (1954) Nikos Koundouros, Giorgos Foundas, Margarita Papageorgiou, Stephanos Stratigos, Crime, Drama
Cold Sassy Tree (1989) Joan Tewkesbury, Faye Dunaway, Richard Widmark, Frances Fisher
The Fallen Idol (1948) Carol Reed, Ralph Richardson, Michèle Morgan, Sonia Dresdel, Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery, Thriller
Vulgar (2000) Brian O’Halloran, Bryan Johnson, Jerry Lewkowitz
Banat (Il Viaggio) / The Journey (2015) Adriano Valerio, Edoardo Gabbriellini, Elena Radonicich, Stefan Velniciuc, Drama
Karakkaze yarô / Afraid to Die (1960) Yasuzô Masumura, Yukio Mishima, Ayako Wakao, Keizô Kawasaki, Crime, Drama
The Spanish Apartment AKA L’auberge espagnole (2002) Cédric Klapisch, Romain Duris, Judith Godrèche, Kelly Reilly
A Purple Taxi (1977) Yves Boisset, Charlotte Rampling, Philippe Noiret, Peter Ustinov
Lucky Lady (1975) Stanley Donen, Gene Hackman, Liza Minnelli, Burt Reynolds
Bank Holiday (1938) Carol Reed, John Lodge, Margaret Lockwood, Hugh Williams, Drama
Tell Me in the Sunlight (1965) Steve Cochran, Shary Marshall, Jay Robinson
Babel – A Letter to My Friends Left Behind in Belgium (1991) Boris Lehman, Nathalie Balou, François Beukelaers, Maggy Collard
Vapors (1965) Andy Milligan, Robert Dahdah, Gerald Jacuzzo, Hal Sherwood
Tale of the Siberian Land AKA Skazanie o zemle sibirskoy (1948) Ivan Pyrev, Vladimir Druzhnikov, Marina Ladynina, Boris Andreyev
The Show (1927) Tod Browning, John Gilbert, Renée Adorée, Lionel Barrymore
The Seven Deadly Sins AKA Les sept péchés capitaux (1952) Yves Allégret, Claude Autant-Lara, Michèle Morgan, Françoise Rosay, Jean Debucourt
Mad Love AKA Juana la Loca (2001) Vicente Aranda, Pilar López de Ayala, Daniele Liotti, Rosana Pastor
Cross of Iron (1977) Sam Peckinpah, James Coburn, Maximilian Schell, James Mason
The White Viking AKA Hvíti víkingurinn (1991) Hrafn Gunnlaugsson, Gotti Sigurdarson, Maria Bonnevie, Sveinn M. Eiðsson
The Berlin Affair AKA Interno berlinese (1985) Liliana Cavani, Gudrun Landgrebe, Kevin McNally, Mio Takaki
Jitters / Órói (2010) Baldvin Zophoníasson, Atli Oskar Fjalarsson, Ilva Holmes, Gísli Örn Garðarsson, Drama, Romance
Saratoga Trunk (1945) Sam Wood, Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Flora Robson
What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966) Blake Edwards, James Coburn, Dick Shawn, Sergio Fantoni
Accent on Love (1941) Ray McCarey, George Montgomery, Osa Massen, J. Carrol Naish
Ceylon My Love (1982) Jacques Orth, Chris Murphy, Vera Floux, Dirke Altevogt, Adventure, Drama, Horror, Erotic
Felidae (1994) Michael Schaack, Ulrich Tukur, Mario Adorf, Helge Schneider
Jésus de Montréal (1989) Denys Arcand, Lothaire Bluteau, Catherine Wilkening, Johanne-Marie Tremblay
Scandal Sheet (1931) John Cromwell, George Bancroft, Kay Francis, Clive Brook
The Knife AKA Het mes (1961) Fons Rademakers, Reitze van der Linden, Marie-Louise Videc, Ellen Vogel
In the Glitter Palace (1977) Robert Butler, Chad Everett, Barbara Hershey, Carole Cook
Lovers of Paris AKA Pot Bouille (1957) Julien Duvivier, Gérard Philipe, Dany Carrel, Jacques Duby
Parents AKA Foreldrar (2007) Ragnar Bragason, Edda Arnljótsdóttir, Reine Brynolfsson, Nína Dögg Filippusdóttir
Hud (1963) Martin Ritt, Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Neal
Great Freedom No. 7 AKA Grosse Freiheit Nr. 7 (1944) Helmut Käutner, Hans Albers, Ilse Werner, Hans Söhnker
Fine Dead Girls (2002) Dalibor Matanic, Olga Pakalovic, Nina Violic, Kresimir Mikic
That World and Mine AKA Êsse Mundo é Meu (1964) Sérgio Ricardo, Antonio Pitanga, Léa Bulcão
Good-bye, My Lady (1956) William A. Wellman, Walter Brennan, Phil Harris, Brandon De Wilde
We Were One Man AKA Nous étions un seul homme (1979) Philippe Vallois, Serge Avedikian, Piotr Stanislas, Catherine Albin
Sunday in August (1950) Luciano Emmer, Anna Baldini, Vera Carmi, Emilio Cigoli
Whisky Romeo Zulu (2004) Enrique Piñeyro, Mercedes Morán, Alejandro Awada
Captured (1959) John Krish, Wilfrid Brambell, Ray Brooks, Alan Dobie, Drama, War