With a couple of exceptions, generally any film to do with war is guaranteed to bore the hell out of me. However, Men Behind the Sun is generally held in high regard by gore fans as one of the most sickening, disturbing and shocking films ever made; and it's that alone that made me want to see it. After the first twenty minutes or so, I was beginning to think I was in the wrong film as I was watching an extremely badly dubbed film about a bunch of young Japanese soldiers horsing around at a prisoner of war camp, and it didn't seem like it was going to turn into the shock-fest I was expecting. However, things soon start to turn around... The film is apparently a history lesson, and takes place in Japan towards the end of the Second World War. The plotting is very loose (anyone that has seen any of the Italian Nazi films will have an idea of what to expect) and really only focuses on a bunch of experiments carried out on prisoners of war at a Japanese prisoner of war camp.
The whole atmosphere and style of the film is very grim and depressing; the camp itself is portrayed as an entirely hopeless environment, and that pays dividends once the film begins showing the most grisly and shocking scenes. The film is not wall to wall nastiness and the memorable scenes are few and far between; which is probably a good thing considering how strong the shocking scenes are! I counted six scenes in particular that are liable to shock viewers. Sequences that show women have their hands frozen and prisoners crucified in a bomb field are obviously special effects; but the compression chamber scene (which is very well shot) is rumoured to feature a real corpse, while the autopsy footage is apparently real also. It's the scenes of animal violence that I will remember for the longest, however; a scene that sees rats burned en mass and another that depicts a cat being eaten alive by rats are too realistic to be fake. Animal lovers should take note. I really can't say I enjoyed watching this film; I appreciate the way that it goes 'that extra mile' at times and I do think that all adults should have the opportunity to experience something like this if they choose to. However, while I enjoy a good gory film; I also watch films primarily for entertainment, and this one is just too grim to really be liked. Good enough for a single viewing if you think you can stomach it.
The whole atmosphere and style of the film is very grim and depressing; the camp itself is portrayed as an entirely hopeless environment, and that pays dividends once the film begins showing the most grisly and shocking scenes. The film is not wall to wall nastiness and the memorable scenes are few and far between; which is probably a good thing considering how strong the shocking scenes are! I counted six scenes in particular that are liable to shock viewers. Sequences that show women have their hands frozen and prisoners crucified in a bomb field are obviously special effects; but the compression chamber scene (which is very well shot) is rumoured to feature a real corpse, while the autopsy footage is apparently real also. It's the scenes of animal violence that I will remember for the longest, however; a scene that sees rats burned en mass and another that depicts a cat being eaten alive by rats are too realistic to be fake. Animal lovers should take note. I really can't say I enjoyed watching this film; I appreciate the way that it goes 'that extra mile' at times and I do think that all adults should have the opportunity to experience something like this if they choose to. However, while I enjoy a good gory film; I also watch films primarily for entertainment, and this one is just too grim to really be liked. Good enough for a single viewing if you think you can stomach it.