The Human Bullet

The Human Bullet

1968. Japan. Written and directed by Kihachi Okamoto. With Minori Terada, Naoko Otani, Yunosuke Ito. Perhaps best known for his samurai films for Toho studio, Okamoto also wrote and directed a number of antiwar films based on his own experiences as a soldier. The Human Bullet is the best of these, a satire centering on a nameless soldier who on the eve of a suicide mission meets his first—and last—love. Mixing bittersweet humor with melancholy, Okamoto offers a deeply conflicted vision of national duty and sacrifice. In Japanese; English subtitles. 117 min.