COPRODUCED BY JAPAN ART THEATRE GUILD AND SOZOSHA
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS
PRODUCED BY SOZOSHA
PRODUCERS NAKAJIMA Masayuki YAMAGUCHI Takuji
SCREENPLAY TAMURA Tsutomu
CINEMATOGRAPHY YOSHIOKA Yasuhiro SENGEN Seizo
ART DIRECTION TODA Jusho MUSIC HAYASHI Hikaru
SOUND NISHIZAKI Hideo EDITING SHIRAISHI Sueko
ASSISTANT DIRECTORS OGASAWARA Kioshi OSEKI Daichi
CAMERA ASSISTANCE
ASSISTANT EDITOR, CONTINUITY AND SPECIAL EFFECTS
SOUND EFFECTS AND RECORDING SUZUKI Akira
FATHER WATANABE Fumio
MOTHER KOYAMA Akiko
BOY ABE Tetsuo
YOUNGER BROTHER KINOSHITA Takeshi
DIRECTED BY OSHIMA Nagisa
BOY
I'm calling you to come!
Land here!
Now... I'm "it"
Got to hide now.
"On the bridge at Kochi, once there was a priest..."
"He bought a woman's hairpin. Whatever for? Whatever for?"
I've hit you!
You're supposed to cry. Whenever you're hit you cry.
Where are you? All of you?
I'll get you all! Yes, each one of you who's playing hooky.
They're coming. Father. They're coming.
One more.
Two more.
The money I've been expecting from Osaka just hasn't arrived yet.
That's all right, You've paid regularly so far.
Thank you very much.
Well, boy, shall we go?
You want Daddy to carry you?
If he sees something sad happening, he'll start crying.
Mother!
It's no good!
The car number was...
It's no good.
Want to sit on my lap?
We have to go on trying, we have to!
Pinch me.
Pinch my back.
Harder... harder.
Mother, are you all right?
But I wasn't speeding, I drove carefully.
You hit her!
I hit her?
Mother's been hurt.
Show me your license.
You're not a policeman.
Don't you have one?
Of course I do!
I've never had an accident before.
Well... bad luck!
I'm laid up for two weeks.
But I can't stay off my job for two weeks! Impossible!
How am I supposed to look after the kids with a broken hip?
A broken hip?
We'll know after the X-rays. Then we'll go to the police.
Do we have to?
Well, it's somebody's fault, but it's not mine!
It's not mine either.
We'd better ask them to look into this properly.
What are you talking about?
Mother! Are you all right? Does it hurt?
Look, this is my first accident.
Couldn't we sort of settle this between us?
No, don't do that!
If people like you aren't caught, there will always be accidents.
Will you come over here, please?
Does it really hurt you?
If you get hurt down there, you can't have babies any more.
I can't eat this. It's too greasy.
Order something else.
I don't feel good. Besides it hurts down there.
You can rest for a couple of days.
Two weeks. That's what the doctor said.
We have to go on working, we have to.
And why don't you do it?
Me? You know I'm all shot up.
Yes... war-wounds, diaeresis and what else?
It's just right for a goof accident.
What are you doing?
Shut up!
Does it taste good?
Eat this too.
I don't want to.
Well, you can always go back... to your grandmother's house.
Couldn't we stop doing this kind of work? I don't really like it.
I don't like it either, but...
there seems to be no way for us to go on living together.
Be quiet and sit down.
You want to go see your real mother?
You know, she's almost dying.
And what would you do in the hospital?
I won't go.
Do you want to go to grandmother's?
No, I don't.
You see? He's my child.
You don't have to do it, you know.
I can talk to your father.
What do you want?
Soup.
Don't be silly!
Two orders of noodles and one soup.
That's mine!
If I'm not working, I'm not hungry.
Want to go to the toilet?
Let's go. You can finish later.
I will go to the station to get the tickets.
After you finished the job, call the station, and let them page me.
But if...
It's no problem, you will succeed. Anyway, work is work.
I'd better buy new glasses.
It isn't that I don't want to, but I get scared.
I used to be, too.
If only we could use magic!
There isn't any magic.
If we were from outer space...
There aren't any such things.
Buy that for me.
No taxis and no fast drivers.
Just delivery trucks or woman drivers.
Look, sea gulls... sea gulls.
Sea gulls...
Yes, sea gulls. They eat fish.
Fish...
Yes, big ones and little ones.
And the little ones eat seaweed.
S-e-a-w-e-e-d.
Seaweed...
Look the sea covers the whole world.
And on the bottom there are mountains, rivers and roads.
And great big monsters, too.
M-o-n-s-t-e-r-s.
Monsters.
Their eyes light up and fire comes out of their mouths.
But the men from outer space defeat them.
I'm a man from the Andromeda galaxy.
I've come to save the world.
I look like an ordinary human but...
in reality I'm a man from outer space. From the nebula of Andromeda.
Andromeda...
Good! You've got it.
I've come to kill all the bad people who want to destroy the earth.
I'm a Messenger of Justice, a cosmic messenger.
We've done it seven times so far.
Only twice didn't it turn out well.
I've gotten much better at it.
Now I can get hit without getting hurt.
The worst is, when the doctors examine me.
I always feel they'll know I'm lying.
Father taught me how to say "it hurts" while holding my breath.
Soon we 'Il arrive in Onomichi. Shikoku can't be seen anymore.
Mother gives me a hundred yen each time and soon...
I' II have a thousand yen.
Does it hurt?
A little.
Boy!
Does it hurt?
You should've been more careful!
Sorry. Boy, I am sorry.
You'd better stay here and have a thorough examination.
But we must leave. We already bought our tickets.
Can't we settle this?
All right. I'll settle for fifty thousand yen... in cash.
How can a simple driver like me find fifty thousand yen so easily?
Then we'll go to the police.
All right, let's go then.
Aren't you sorry you hit our boy like that?
WAIVER OF LIABILITY
Will you have lunch?
None for me.
Me neither.
Boy?
Later.
T ell me when you want some.
Can't you do anything but yawn?
What?
I don't know.
If I were in Osaka I could play cards.
No gambling! We're not going to waste any money.
Who said I want to gamble?
Go play pachinko.
You can't win on that.
It's no fun not having your own home.
What are you talking about? This place is nice enough.
Where are you going?
Toilet.
Kokura, Wakamatsu, Tobata, Yahata...
It's all right. Never mind.
Aren't you hungry?
Where is boy?
So he's run away?
Possibly.
He had not enough money so far but you're the one who gave it to him.
But if you're worried take the money back.
I'm pregnant.
What will we do?
We can't do anything about it.
Is it all right then?
It's all right.
You mean it?
No, go get an abortion.
We can't go on living like this not with another one.
You must get a job.
We need a decent home.
We must send the children to school.
Stop it!
Let's not rush things.
We'll go on like we have for a while.
After all, we've saved a little.
I wonder what he thinks.
About what?
About me.
You were separated from your parents when you were four, weren't you?
Yes, my stepmother got married four times.
You'll wake the baby.
I hated her. I really thought it was better to be completely alone.
Then he's probably thinking the same.
Stop it! Not until we decide whether I can have this baby.
Do whatever you want.
I want it.
But I don't.
Then I' II have an abortion.
I'll get a doctor tomorrow?
I won't do it here.
I lived a long time in Fukui I know a good doctor there.
Very well. Let's go to Fukui then.
When?
Right now. I'll pay the bill, you go and pack.
We don't have to rush. The boy isn't even here.
You think he ran off?
What if he has?
We'll think about it later.
I'm fed up! Pregnant and all.
You're getting an abortion.
When I say no, it's no.
Boy can't run away.
Shit, sure he can!
Go look for him, if you're so worried!
I'll take the baby and go to the station getting the tickets.
Why do you look like that? You bumped into us.
I'm sorry.
What do you mean bumping into us like that?
I was reading.
Some excuse! You won't get away with it.
I really didn't mean to.
All right then, but you have to give us some... compensation.
Compensation?
Yes, money! You hit us and we need some for the hospital bills.
One thousand! That's all?
Just be careful from now on.
And don't you look at me like that!
What are you looking at?
Mother!
Where have you been?
Well, I was...
Running away, weren't you?
No.
You won't get away so easily.
What's the matter?
We're going away. We have to hurry.
My hat...
What about it?
I was drying it.
It's junk! Throw it away!
You want to get killed?
How about here?
Wait. Isn't this too expensive?
We're going to have the best.
Come on, now. Cheer up, we're going to have a good time.
I envy you - all together like this.
I wish I had a father like him. Isn't that true, boy?
Yes.
Would you like another song?
Well, let's see...
What would you like?
How about a popular song?
Where are you from?
From Fukui.
Actually, we're from Kochi.
Then we'll do a Kochi song.
"On the bridge at Kochi, once there was a priest..."
"He bought a woman ' s hair pin. Whatever for? Whatever for?"
"How long it's been..."
"Since I left Kochi..."
"I remember my friends..."
"That day I left"
Even if you go back there, your grandmother won't be pleased.
They were very happy when you left.
It's true. They wrote me that in a letter.
They've forgotten all about you at school.
Even your desk is gone now.
Understand?
"Since I swore..."
"To serve my country..."
"How can I die vanquished?"
"When I hear the trumpet sound..."
"I remember my country's flag"
"Travelling through the fields..."
"Where trees are burning..."
"My brave horse trotting..."
"Following my flag..."
"How then can I die vanquished?"
"Cannons, tanks, bayonets..."
"All left behind..."
"Last night in a dream..."
"My father said: Don't die, son, come back alive..."
"I awoke and saw but the enemy's sky"
DEPARTURES
Some bread, please.
Fifteen rolls, please, and five packs of gum.
One thousand four hundred yen...
...divided by two...
...makes seven hundred.
One half-fare to Kochi.
Which Kochi?
The Kochi in Shikoku.
1,500 yen.
I'm under twelve, so it's half-fare.
You're older than that.
You're wearing your school uniform. 1,500 yen!
I've only got 1,000 yen.
Then you can't go to Shikoku.
Have you run away?
No. I was lying, when I said Shikoku.
If you want to lie, go home.
I want to go to Amano-hashidate.
Another fib?
It's true this time.
All right then.
Two hundred thirty yen.
Seven hundred seventy back.
Seven, eight, nine... for the third day...
...ten, eleven, twelve... for the fourth day...
Grandmother, here I am. I'm back.
See, I'm here.
I rode the train for four days and was in the boat all alone.
And I only ate bread. I ate fifteen rolls.
I'm tired. I'm going to sleep now.
Good night.
Tomorrow...
...wake me up any time.
How much does a doctor cost?
For what?
For that... abortion.
About this much.
Then an emergency might cost about that much.
Today, we'll get 70,000 yen.
We're getting expensive.
That much, right?
I'll go with Mom.
All right, go then.
Does it hurt?
No. I was just clumsy.
You should tell me, if it hurts.
Just a little.
Good. It'll look more real and more serious to the doctor.
And since it's swollen, we won't have to inject anything.
It's hard for you too, isn't it?
You...
What is it?
Do I still have to go today?
Of course. That's why we came to Fukui...
...and kept this room.
Just don't look up any old friends.
You don't have to tell me. How could I face them?
I'll take the baby to the department store with me.
It'll be over in an hour.
Then there's no work today?
You go with your mother.
What do you mean by that?
I'm not so sure, that you're really going to a doctor.
Why did you come back?
I thought you never would.
Why?
I don't know.
But I did come back.
Yes, but...
I've been to this hospital before.
I was with a man. Do you understand things like that?
A little.
Now, go play somewhere.
For about an hour?
Be back in about two hours.
Bastard! You were spying on me. You wanted to tell your father, didn't you?
Go on, say something.
I know, I'm just your stepmother...
...and you hate me. You're worse than he is!
Come on, say something.
I'm sorry.
Why apologize? Don't be such a hypocrite.
I know you tell him bad things about me.
No, I don't.
You're lying.
All children hate their step-parents.
It's natural that you hate me.
You hate me, so you spy on me.
Come on, say that you hate me.
Do I have to say that?
Well, what does it matter!
I don't think anything about anything.
Stupid boy!
Anything you would like? I've got some money.
I'd like a watch.
A wrist watch?
With the date and the day.
That's expensive.
Well, forget it.
I'll get you one, but don't you tell your father then.
You really will?
Well... your mother went to the hospital...
...and boy played for two hours in the park.
Sure... I played in the park.
Don't show it to him. It's our secret.
What day's today?
Wednesday.
No, Friday. The day after tomorrow is Sunday.
Every day's like Sunday.
I'll leave it on Sunday.
You'll be able to go to school someday.
I guess so.
You'll go to school, he'll go to kindergarten and I'll have another baby.
When, though?
Real soon.
We'll work hard and save as much as we can.
We need a lot, right?
Yes, we need a lot.
We need a lot, right?
We've been to lots of places...
Tsuruga...
...Nishimaizuru...
...Kanazawa, Toyama
If you look at a map, they all are in the Sea of Japan.
Father says we're getting more and more experience.
Since it really hurts now...
...I don't have to lie to the doctor.
Even an ordinary child can say that it hurts...
...when it really hurts.
My younger brother has grown.
He understands more of what I say now.
He always asks me to tell him...
...about the men from outer space.
Some of these appear to be old.
Have you been hurt before?
It hurts! Stop it!
We'll take X-rays, but he won't recover before a month.
A month! Look, I didn't hit him that hard.
May I use the telephone?
Give me the police.
And you're not even sorry?
Look, I'm a car mechanic.
I know what a car looks like that's hit someone.
Does it hurt?
Stop it! Taking a sick child out like this... keeping him up so late...
Is this how the police act?
Get things ready.
Everything is settled?
He's paying 60,000 yen! I'll get it at the station.
Then there is no rush.
Yes. We can't stay here. The police might call us again.
It's that bad?
Just a hunch. They took our pictures.
It's not the first time.
I know. That's why.
Come on, get up.
What is it?
Where are we going?
The tickets are for Fukushima.
We've already passed it.
Is that so?
Really, where are we going?
We'll keep changing trains for two days.
You're joking!
You should know better. You really think I'm joking?
We've been photographed before.
But this was the second time for me.
If they compare them, they'll know who I am.
The same goes for me.
Yes, but I've got a record.
We're going to stop and change our clothes too.
It's already winter.
Yes, it is.
Can you see?
Yes, I can see.
They make you dizzy when you're not used to them.
Do I have to keep them on?
Except when you sleep.
They hurt my eyes.
Naturally! We bought them for your mother. They wouldn't fit you.
You wear them instead of her.
We'll put up at different hotels for a few days.
This isn't getting warm.
It's broken.
The heater's broken! Do you have another one?
No, we don't. It'll get warmer after a while.
You can have a stove, but you must pay for the charcoal.
Where is the telephone?
Over there.
Hotel Prince? Room 312, please!
It's me.
Nothing special, but...
Hello? Hello!
Don't try too hard now.
Mind your own business.
You want the stove?
Mother!
What's wrong.
Nothing! Go on back.
Thirteenth, fourteenth...
...fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth...
...eighteenth, nineteenth
I won't show it to him, all right?
It doesn't matter now.
Let's go see your father.
Third floor?
Shall I call him?
Daddy!
Be careful, you!
Shall we do it, mother?
Mother!
Are you alright?
Mother!
Are you hurt?
Why do you drive at night?
Thank God, you weren't hit!
What do you mean? I'm in my fourth month.
I'll drive you to the hospital.
Not the hospital. The police is best.
Go call an ambulance.
No, get in my car.
No, get an ambulance.
Wait, please!
Perhaps... some money...
Don't talk like that! We don't want your money!
I know, but really... it would be better if we didn't go to the police.
How much?
I'll give you whatever you want.
You go to the department store and I'll get two hotels.
Not the same?
Of course not.
Then we'll do it again tonight.
Again?
We did it last night.
Boy, you have to wear your glasses.
I made him throw them away.
We'll do it together.
Go on, get your two hotels. Let's go, boy.
I'm still pregnant, you see? I'm going to save money for the baby.
I'm gonna have that baby! That's why... you idiot!
Let's go, boy.
Where to?
Some place in an airplane.
An airplane... really?
We'll be men from outer space!
You want to fly that much?
Then we're not?
Yes, we will!
Where do you think you're going?
Hokkaido.
Even if you say no!
I want to go there, too.
Yes, Hokkaido would be all right.
Look, clouds... a whole sea of clouds!
And there are monsters in this sea.
Bird-monsters, butterfly-monsters...
Monsters...
Yes, monsters.
Men from outer space will come flying out of those clouds.
They always know right away where the monsters are.
They come all the way from Andromeda.
...all from Andromeda...
We really went to Hokkaido.
I had been brought up in Kochi, and I had never seen snow before.
It was white, very white... a whole sea of snow.
Hakodate, Iwagaiama, Obihira...
Kushiro, Abashiri, Ashahikawa Wakkanai...
Father had told us not to work, but...
...mother and I did anyway.
We worked around the stations.
It was too cold to walk far.
"Furthest Northern Point"
"Latitude 45*31"
"Japan's Northern Point"
"Further East: Sea of Okhotsk"
"West: Sea of Japan"
"Meeting of two Seas"
"Sakhalin, 23 miles away, is visible in clear weather".
Come on, eat them.
They are made with real sake.
Makes them taste very special.
I wonder if I'll ever come back here.
Why not, if we have money.
Is this the end of Japan?
Yes, over there it's not Japan. Why do you ask?
We've been everywhere - nowhere else to go.
Only outer space is left.
Let's get an apartment and live decently.
You mean it?
We've already made a lot of money.
You think, that 600,000 yen is that much?
If we get an apartment and buy supplies it'll be gone in three months.
But you'll get a job.
What do you mean? I'm an invalid...
You knew that from the very first...
I wish Japan were bigger.
Stop it! Don't do it now.
We've done it for two days now. We should stop for a while...
I'll get a good hotel. We'll have another party.
This will kill us, if we go on.
It's too late now.
No! We'll hide for three months...
It'll work... even if we start again from Kyushu.
I've had enough.
That's why I'm working so hard now.
What are you doing?
All right... I understand. We'll stop.
No, it's too dangerous, let's separate for a while. All right?
You've understood that much.
Then I'll take the boy.
What?
You take the baby.
Oh no, you don't!
But it's better this way.
You know damn well that me and you are done.
We can go on by ourselves.
How old are you?
T en.
Where were you born?
Osaka.
Whose child are you?
You're mine, aren't you? I'm your father.
What are you doing?
Boy!
Mother, let's go.
Give me that!
Trying to bribe him by buying him watches like this?
Go pick it up!
Pick it up!
What?
Bastard!
Baby!
Go! Out of here!
Boy!
Come, come up here!
Sit... over here!
I've died already once, during the war.
My left shoulder, arm... shattered.
And you call that work? You've never even had a broken arm!
Have you ever thought you'd die?
All you do is bump into a car and then scream.
You think I should be grateful for that?
Then you can go on and say that I'm not your father?
You don't know what war is like, do you?
You take a crap and the next minute your head's blowing off.
I've been there... moments between life and death.
Not only did I see it, it was just like being dead myself.
And then you come and say I'm no good?
- That's nonsense... - Shut up!
Wouldn't you be sorry to leave a husband, a father like me?
Boy... you think you can go on living like this?
Dead... she's dead.
In the accident?
Maybe I killed her.
Don't think about that!
Throw this crap away!
Idiot!
What do you think you're doing?
Bastard! Why didn't you die in your war?
Father, husband! Some joke!
Just now, you were about to run away!
You're the one who was happy when the boy really got hurt.
All right... then kill us all!
I'll kill you all right!
You can kill me, but not my unborn child!
Bitch! I'll strangle you... I will!
What's going on?
Nothing.
Shall I take the baby?
No, it's all right.
So, I'll die then.
Good-bye Mother. Good-bye Father.
Brother!
Go on back now... go on.
Brother!
Go back... go on back!
I'm going where no one else but I can go.
Brother... brother... brother!
I understand. Don't cry.
You know what this is?
It's not an ordinary snowman. It's a man from outer space.
Outer space...
That's it. Now watch.
You understand now, don't you? He came all the way from Andromeda.
Andromeda...
He's a messenger of justice...
...who came to destroy all bad men.
He's not afraid. Not even of monsters.
Not even of trains and cars.
If he runs into them... they break.
He never gets hurt, he never cries.
He doesn't even have any tears.
He has no parents, he's all alone.
No mother, no father.
When he's really afraid, then other outer space men come and save him.
I was going to become someone just like him.
That's what I wanted.
But I couldn't. I'm just an ordinary boy.
I don't even know how to die.
You stupid thing... you idiot!
Is it Sunday?
Getting ready for Christmas.
The day Christ died?
No, the day he was born.
And then we stopped working.
We went back to Kochi and then to Osaka.
Now we live in a real house.
One of those new ones, recently built.
COUPLE FAKES ACCIDENTS WITH OWN CHILD EARNS 400000 YEN IN COMPENSATIONS
SUSPECTED COUPLE INDICTED
MOTHER BORN IN OSAKA
COUPLE DISCOVERED THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHIC IDENTIFICATION
From October to December a series of fake accidents happened all over Japan...
staged by a couple, who used their own child to cash in on compensations.
The police investigated 16 cases with damages amounting to 747, 200 Yen.
The culprits are a middle-aged couple with a boy and a baby.
The alleged father, Omura Takeo, 45 years old, was born in Kochi prefecture.
He is jobless and has a criminal record with 3 offences.
Since Dec. 20 he and his accomplices are wanted by Gumma Prefecture Police.
Despite his severe injuries the child was taken away by the couple.
Thus the National Police Agency has ordered a nationwide search.
Are you Takeko Taniguchi?
You should never have started using your child.
Father, run away!
You had lots of accidents?
Was it your father who told you to do it?
Then your mother?
I like my mother.
When did you come to Osaka?
I don't remember.
You went all over Japan?
I was never on a train.
No lies, now. Lies are bad.
This is you here. You have a hat on, though.
That's a man from outer space.
It must have hurt, getting hit like that.
I've never gotten hit.
Then how did you get hurt there?
It is just a little scratch.
Why are you doing this? No one asked you to.
The police asked me to.
If you're hurt, we'll try to cure you.
I'm not hurt.
Maybe, but if it got worse we'd have to cut the arm off.
All right then, go ahead.
Omura Takeo, born in 1922...
Third child of six. Mother and father were fishermen and farmers.
Lost his father at the age of five...
At age eleven, went to Osaka...
Committed a robbery...
...and went to reformatory.
Then joins the army.
Wounded in China in 1942...
Ended the war in Okayama Military Hospital.
Sold clothes after the war.
In 1953, he married Kazuyo Yamamoto.
A son, Toshio, was born in 1956 The child is now 10 years old.
Taniguchi Takeko, born in 1939 in Osaka.
Adopted at the age of four...
Step-mother twice remarried...
Lived with four different families.
1958: Married an 18 year old man.
Had a child, then returned to Osaka and worked in a cabaret.
This is where she met Omura in 1959.
Abandoned her family and began living with him.
In 1963, she had a child by Omura. Child is now 3 years old.
Do you like the sea?
And you rode on a plane too.
It must have been nice.
Yes, I went to Hokkaido.
THE END