TOEl Company presents
ln cooperation with organizations
of Student Veterans Support
LlSTEN TO THE VOlCES OF THE SEA
Manufacturing: Masahiro Makino Scenario: Kadzuo Funahashi
Cinematographer: Shinkichi Otsuka Production: Tesiro Katsura
Editing: Shintaro Miyamoto
Music: Akira lfukube
Cast:
Hajime lzu, Yasumi Hara Akitake Kono, Kinzo Shin
Yuriko Hanabusa, Haruko Sugimura,
Yoichi Numata, Soji Kamishiro, Koichi Hayashi, Kyosuke Tsuki,
Yoshio Omori, Asao Sano
Director: Hideo Sekigawa
What should those do who survived, if the dead will not return?
Who and about what should those who survived be asked,
if you can't ask the dead anymore?
Should those who survived remain silent
if the dead can no longer remain silent?
BURMA
Dear Japanese soldiers,
listen to the following message.
Your commanders apparently hide from you
the defeat of the Japanese army.
The Japanese Army is losing
catastrophically on all fronts.
Units of Retsu were decimated by the British-lndian army
near Kojima. Units of Matsuri were also nearly destroyed.
Later, units of Kiku from the area of Hukawang
were attacked by the British bombers in the lrrawaddy Delta
and fled.
You, too, came here to get into lmpala,
but it just becomes a march of death.
Dear Japanese soldiers your leaders are lying to you,
- that your Emperor is God... - Sorry.
To die for the emperor is the highest honor,
to sacrifice yourselves - your most sacred task,
but after the horrific acts that you had to commit,
you know that all of this is simply lies.
Maybe you want to remain faithful to His lmperial Highness,
but this way you are going against humanity.
The Command of the Japanese Army, which believes
that these inhumane acts are a manifestation of loyalty to the emperor,
are committing a horrific extermination of its people.
Forcing the wounded and sick soldiers to fight in vain,
while not providing them with medical care, food or even ammunition.
Soon it will come to the destruction of all the troops.
Dear Japanese soldiers, the outcome of the battles
has long ago been decided. Come to us immediately.
Good food and clean clothes await you here.
This is a wild onion.
Front line students,
you have to think logically about your situation.
Everybody who came before us, has certainly eaten it.
Explain everything to your comrades, who were,
unfortunately, brought up in a vicious Japanese manner.
Take their hand and come to us.
We appeal to you; this is the greatest blessing
that you now can give. Now follows the musical program.
Bastards, they try to make fools out of us.
They think that we will just be taken prisoner, these fools!
Assholes!!
From their nonsense, a person's stomach will grumble even more.
They are trying their best with these programs,
so we are probably close to a unit of ours.
Yes, we need to find it.
Who is there?!
- Who is here? - Private Oki.
What are you doing here?
We lost our division.
You have lagged behind!
We apologize for having disturbed you,
but could you give us some food?
We are also producing it.
We beg you.
Don't behave like a baggar.
We are almost there.
Do you think that the soldiers listen to these programs?
Yes, even though they were ordered not to listen to them.
The enemy appeals to the front line students. How many are there with us?
Eight, it seems, in Cadet Maki's regiment.
- ls this Kawanishi among them? - Yes.
- We have to watch him. - Okay.
Allow me to enter.
Attention!
A straggler from a different company has arrived.
What? You shouldn't bring strangers here all the time!
Yes, sir!
Go on to your company! We don't have any food for you.
- From which company are you? - From squad Sakuo, company Jumi.
- Wasn't company Saku destroyed? - Yes, it was.
Can we use them for something?
We can, for example, send them to gather some food.
Find a place where people from the local villages are hiding
and bring one cow.
lf there is a pig, it will be even better.
- Yes, sir. - Yes, sir.
You won't get any food until you bring us some animal.
- Then you can stay with us. - Yes, sir.
You are very lucky. You should thank the battalion commander.
Commander, sir, we thank you many times.
Aoji, as you are the one who found them, have them join your squad. Got it?
Yes, sir.
Aren't you a teacher, Mr. Oki?
l'm Maki. Goro Maki from your faculty.
Oh, Maki.
Professor!
What? You know each other?
Yes. This is my university professor.
So then you are a university lecturer?
Yes, a senior teacher.
- What did you teach? - French literature.
This is enemy literature.
Who are famous French writers? Shakespeare?
Yes.
Ah, he is worth nothing.
Yes.
- When were you called? - Actually, right after you.
- Private! - Aye.
l don't know how important you were in the civilian world, but this is the Army!
Why are you having fun with him?
Cadet, you know the military regulations?!
This isn't the university. Behave yourself with dignity!
Yes, sir.
Private!
You were left behind, because you lack discipline.
l'll teach you how to behave.
- Follow me! - Yes, sir.
Commander, sir, l can do a massage very well.
Maybe you need a back massage.
l see that you're observant. Okay, you can massage me. Come on!
This worries me. Will we find this shelter?
lt's better to let it go.
Lt. Kisino hates us front-line students.
The more you care about Mr. Oki,
the harder it will get for him.
The last lecture of Mr. Oki was about Montaigne.
Sometimes l remember it.
- Hey! Can't you go any faster? - Yes.
What ''yes'', you dog! Go faster!
Give it to me!
What is this?
Rusty crap.
- Fetch, you dog! Run! - Yes, sir.
What is this? You can't bark? Bark!
Woof, woof. Woof, woof!
That's right, you dog!
Go on!
Comme l'Ame Descharge ses Passions sur des Objects Faux,
Quand les Vrais Luy Defaillent.
Human thought is meaningless, if it doesn't have any particular purpose.
Since this is not a lecture in Latin,
l wrote you a French translation.
Translations vary depending on the media;
this is created on the basis of the Tsunara edition.
As can be concluded from the introduction to the poem of Lucian,
the works by this author were his favorite,
right after Ovid.
The most important work of Lucian, as l wrote here,
lt'sPharsalus, or otherwise Farsalus. ln French it?s Pharsalus.
Farsalus is the name of an area in Greece. lt?s that place
where Ceasar defeated Pompey and that's why
the book was named after it.
Mentioned in the poem:
''wind and the dense forest'', here ''Ventus'' means ''wind''.
So, ''lf nothing is interfering with the wind, he will lose strength
and will spread in the air.''
We can interpret it like this, that is why the ''ut'' means ''comme''.
One of the poems is connected to the following text.
The rest was translated by Maki and he did it really well,
so l think that this is a very good translation.
But let us translate this together.
When reading the text we mean the name of the chapter
''Human thought is meaningless, if it doesn't have any particular purpose''.
Here ''mesme'' connects it with the previous text.
''Just as
the shocked agitated soul, while it doesn't catch anything,
finally vanishes from itself.''
''Prinse'' is the present ''prise''. Montaigne was a man
from the 16th century, that's why he still used medieval spelling.
After ''il'' there is an interval with ''faut''.
''Therefore, she should have been given nothing that would get in her way
or influence her.
Plutarch said a thing about people who indulge in monkeys and dogs.
''Our internal organ of love.''
Here ''Partie'' means ''portion du corrs''.
''Organ of love, if it's not directed to the correct item,
will not be left alone, but will create
an incredible false target for itself''.
''Our passionate soul will create a false,
fictitious partner.
We will stupefy ourselves, even if it's not opposed to
what we believe.
''Plugtost quo'', we know that even if we do something
nothing of this will change''.
The word ''faulce'' in today's French is ''fausse'',
''valre'' means ''meme'' today.
Because ''frivole'' means ''Que merite point de confidence'',
l emphatically translated it with the word ''unbelievable''.
Because ''fantastique'' means ''qui ne existe qu'en imagination''
or ''qui na que l'apparence, d'un etre corporel'',
it seemed a little too strong to me, so l boldly translated it
as ''fictional''.
Further, quoting Plutarch, the opening phrase
of ''Plutarch's biographie''.
We are on half of the text, but today we managed to get just to here.
This is our last lecture;
to me this chapter seems the darkest in the text of Montaigne.
Due to the fact that we have to break this chapter in half,
l can't rejoice too much for you,
as you all were called up for war.
lf you have any questions relating to grammar
or content, then don't hesitate to ask.
Yes.
Your hour closes our student life,
instead of a pen, we will get a gun and rush to the battlefields.
l think that it's natural that we, as individuals of our nation
have to follow the fate of our country.
When wel get to the front, we will just get used to
the reality of ''death''.
But to this day we are as outsiders, as students,
wiled away our days searching and studying the beauty and the truth.
Therefore, we cover ourselves with sorrow and lead ourselves astray.
Professor, how would you see it
if you were in our situation?
Your current situation is too serious, l don't have the right
and don't have the courage to teach you the exalted thoughts.
But let me quote a phrase of Montaigne:
''Que philosophe, c'est apprendre a'mourir'',
or ''The Meaning of Philosophy - it's closer to death''.
Montainge lived in the 16th century, in troubled times,
the dreadful time of religious wars and the plague.
Therefore, it's more than natural that he was thinking about the topic of death.
Montaigne cites this.
''Only terrible things are happening all around us.
A mortuary shroud is put on us already,
as if we were already buried.
Children experience fear at the sight of a man with a mask on his face,
even if it was a friend. Similarly, this is the case with us''.
One of the passages of the twenty-fourth essay of Seneca.
He continues:
''We need to unmask all our actions and people.
lf you remove the mask, we will find that hiding under it is
a ordinary attendant, or simply a servant, and we aren't afraid of them
and quietly go pass them.
The same with death''.
Further:
''The kind of death which we mustn't solemnly prepare for,
is the greatest happiness.'' That's how this chapter ends.
l heartily wish that luck will accompany you at the front.
- Move faster! - Yes, sir.
Professor, sir.
Call me Oki. lt's better.
- Please take this. - Thank you.
What are you doing here?
l have been instructed to serve the commander.
Don't take it too seriously.
Here is one senior student, you want me to introduce you to him?
Yes, of course.
He was a student activist, already 4 years in the army,
but still only a private.
He has a heart of gold.
ls Kawanishi here?
- l'm here. - Come here for a minute.
Our army is lucky, first successes at the front.
Japan sent the first reinforcements.
lt smells like some kind of delicacy.
Provide assistance to him in everything. l ask that of you.
l'm glad l can help you.
Baked chicken.
- l brought you some paper. - Thank you.
- How do you feel? - The smell makes me very hungry.
Did you draw anything?
You're good at it.
l want, at least once, to have a proper meal, before l die.
My mother also draws. You have something in commen with her.
Akiyama, am l right?
Please wait!
What's that noise? You also hear it?
A burst skull. Blood, it's blood!
Stop, you fool! Otherwise, l will also become ill.
Blood, blood, it's blood!
Yamada! Calm down.
- Platoon Aoji, line up! - Yes, sir.
Let's go.
University professor, you could try a bit harder now.
To be able to resist fried chicken,
we will try and find some domestic animals.
Spy planes are flying everywhere,
we'll be finished if they find us.
We'll hide in the jungle.
Such a nasty raw wind is blowing.
lt's a sign of the rainy season.
After several years at the front you will develop your own instinct,
just like insects.
But in return you get a void in your head.
My head is already no longer working.
Tanks!
Dear Japanese soldiers, we have some news for you.
During the transmission, we will not shoot, so listen quietly.
The leaders of Japan hide
the current world situation from you.
On May 7, Germany signed an unconditional surrender.
Furthermore, in San Francisco representatives from more than 40 countries met
and signed the lnternational Charter for the maintenance of peace
and have agreed to end the war.
Only the leaders of Japan are opposing the rest of the world
and continue to sacrifice you in this senseless war.
Do you like it?
Soldiers, stop once and for all placing
your precious lives in danger for these evil leaders.
lt's better if you go immediately to us.
Next, we will transmit music for you again
How can this end?
We must fight to the end.
But l can't just die here like a lousy dog.
lf we have to throw away our lives for nothing,
why didn't l sacrifice my life then?
Everything is just delayed.
Couldn't you do anything else, before the war broke out?
At a time when the conflict broke out with Mr. Kawai,
we could have saved everything.
NOTlCE: PROFESSORS KAWAl AND HlJlKATA AREN'T GlVlNG THE LECTURES
At that time l already worked at the university.
Why didn't we defend
Mr. Kawai more actively back then?
Now of course it's too late.
1939, PROFESSOR KAWAl CHARGED
But why was l hiding from it all in the world of science?
However, l felt uncontrollable anger and anxiety,
but l tried to ignore it and retreated into my own inner world.
l was a coward.
Despite this fact, from what l've see, it must be resisted.
PATRlOTlC COUNClL
l was a fool.
Now l've finally got it.
ln this short-lived life,
l could have done something that would have had some value.
lt would at least not be so useless as it is now.
But...
While not everyone opposes it, it's meaningless.
l'm a good example of this.
lt was a blast of youthful enthusiasm and pure ideals.
But l haven't had a chance.
They had absolute power. Suppressing our resistance was easier
than twisting the arm of an infant.
WE ARE AGAlNST THE WAR!
l was blackmailed, lied to, misled and
tormented by the crying of my mother.
Finally, l was forced to change and then the army awaited me.
When l was drafted into the army, l read in the newspapers
that a young communist was inspired by the historical meaning of war
in East Asia and from his prison demanded that he
be sent as a volunteer to the front.
Did l demand?! Such a farce.
lf l knew that it would be this way,
l should have bit my tongue and hanged myself.
Sometimes l think about it.
l have a feeling that someone is making fun of me.
We have to kill people who we don't hate.
All of this is monstrous.
You found something?
l feel unpleasant that because of me you have to starve even more... Thank you.
Doctor Nonomura arrived.
What a rarity!
He brought an order from the company commander!
Thank you.
He also brought mail.
We thank you.
- Cadet Maki. - Aye.
This is for you. Probably from your beloved.
He's dead.
He too.
He's alive.
He's dead too.
He too.
Dead.
Kawanishi Hiroshi.
l'll take it to them.
- Wait a minute. - Yes.
We must be careful with this. lt must pass censorship.
- Understood. You may go. - Thank you.
What is this?
Order from the division command.
Private Sakagami, a letter for you.
Get up, a letter came for you.
Come on, what's wrong with you?
That doesn't look good.
Hey, Sakagami! What, you're going to die so peacefully?
Hey, you got a letter from your wife.
ldiot.
Sakagami, l'll read it for you. Listen carefully.
There's also a letter from your child.
Father, how are you?
l listen to mother, don't be angry with her.
When you come back, l'll be even better.
Troop commanders, line up!
Mother and l wish that you quickly return in full health.
Who, like him, will die next? Chiba?
Or lijima?
Why me? Why should l die?
''Sibayima Battalion was ordered to move from their position,
and cover the movement of the regiment in the rearguard.
Break camp at Hill 106 and resist the enemy attacks
with all your might''.
lt does not say that we have to fight to the last man,
but l understand it that way.
''Since currently there is no chance of getting ammunition,
the battalion will have to dispense the ammunition
that is available at the moment.
Additionally, to maximize the combat potential,
everyone who has a temperature lower than 40 degrees
or who is only slightly injured, will not be considered sick.
The remaining wounded soldiers must remain in the camp''.
Regarding who will remain where,
Dr. Nonomura will decide based on health inspections.
- Commander, sir! - What is wrong?
We would like to bring all the wounded and sick with us.
We will provide their transportation at all costs.
Please do that.
Transporting of the critically injured and sick patients will affect
our fighting capabilities.
But so far, we've been fighting together all this time.
- Combat capability is more important. - But...
We can't change orders given by division command.
Our battalion will leave the current position tomorrow at dusk.
Until that time, go cook some food.
To those who will remain, l will personnally give the order.
Till that time, it is prohibited to talk to anyone about it.
- ls that clear? - Yes, sir.
Sgt. Aoji, do you understand?
Yes, sir.
They say the order came from division command.
The seriously wounded can return home.
ls that true? We will be able to return?
Seriously?
l could go home safely.
Now, Dr. Nonomura will examine all of you.
There is no alcohol for disinfection;
all of them have worm infested wounds.
lnstead, use dry gauze fiber banana leaves
and maize leaves as bandages. But those are already used up.
Hey, look!
He's still alive. See, his lips are moving.
Enough, enough.
Don't look at me!
l...
Why did l do it?
He has mental problems.
His cconscience is torturing him,
because in China he broke the head of some peasant with a rock.
- Change his bandages. - Yes, sir.
- What's your name? - Junior Sergeant Omati.
- What's your sickness? - Military dystrophy.
- Can you walk? - Not by myself.
- What's your name? - Private Minota.
- You draw? - Yes.
- What did you do in the civilian world? - Studied at the Art University.
- Frontline student? - Yes.
- Applied to the Cadet Corps? - Applied, but not successfully.
- Why? - Because l only can draw.
Okay.
How did you get here?
l was wrapped in a mat and was taken by horse.
That's how.
He's also a frontline student.
- Don't say it. Where are you from? - From Waseda.
And l'm from Kayo.
Perhaps we once met, when we went to watch baseball.
What's wrong with you?
Come on, leave me a bit. Share some.
l can't. There won't be anything left for tomorrow.
l'll give you a cigarette for it. How about it?
Will you accept one handful?
Try to smoke, you'll see.
- Okay, but only a handful. - Good.
This is truly an impoverished unit!
But thanks to the professor you can share the food with me.
Upon graduation l'll still work in the faculty hospital.
We have daily air raid drills
with the rest of our neighborhood. l'm a senior nurse.
ln my neighborhood, l am very busy teaching
others how to bandage the wounded.
Recently for the first time in a while, l visited the Philharmonic Hall.
During the concert, l became sad.
They played the same song,
like when we were there together.
What do you mean, far away? Surely somewhere in the south.
lt doesn't matter, it will be overseas.
Letters will have to travel a long distance.
- l think l made a mistake. - What?
lt was ugly on my part. Against you.
- Do you mean a wedding? - Yes. l'm a fool, aren't l?
l was afraid. l betrayed my own feelings and
made even you miserable.
Okay. lt's alright.
Prepare for departure!
- This is for you. - Thank you.
l must go.
Take care of yourself. l will be waiting.
l WlSH YOU GOOD LUCK
FAREWELL FOREVER. l WlSH YOU HAPPlNESS.
Cadet Maki, aren't you happy?
l haven't had a woman for a long time.
What was the name of that girl from Napruso?
- Eriko? - Yes, Eriko.
That was one hell of a specimen and what a beautiful big ass.
- Oki, you have a wife? - Yes.
- So? You think about her sometimes? - Yes.
- Oki? - What?
- Are the officers already asleep? - Yes, all are already asleep.
- What are you doing? - Let's go get something to eat.
Where?
Don't lie to me. You are sneaking away.
Are you going off to steal something?
Just a little bit.
Like you, we have nothing. Let it go!
- Let's go for the horse. - Horse?
Yes. The horse of the commander.
- And what do you want to do with it? - To eat it.
lf we do nothing,
it's not even certain that we all will survive tomorrow's hike.
What is a horse anyway? lt's not far from cannibalism.
Okay, l'll go with you. Let's pretend we did it with the whole unit.
- Thank you. - Thank you. - lt's hot.
KANNON BODHlSATTVA WlTH A HORSE'S HEAD
Guys, we've brought meat.
Did everyone get up already?
Eat properly.
And not a word to anyone. ls that clear?
- Commander, sir, your horse has escaped. - What?
And the guard? Guard!
He says he didn't notice anything special.
- Well, he probably hasn't escaped. - Yes.
This horse couldn't just run away.
What are you looking at?
- You know something about this? - No.
ln any case, we will organize an emergency formation and look for him.
Lieutenant!
lt's most likely that this hose was killed and eaten.
What?
This morning, the wounded private lijima vomited from overeating.
ln the vomit there were pieces of something that looked like horse meat.
l asked him what is was, but he didn't want to tell me.
Seriously? Okay. You will come with me.
Hey, lijima.
They say you ate horse meat.
Who gave it to you? Tell me! l command you to answer me now!
You ate it, too!
So can someone at least give an answer?
- What does he have? - Lung disease and malaria.
Put him on a stretcher and follow me.
Listen, l'll give you some quinine. Tell me who it was.
l'll know it soon enough, so tell me!
Sgt. Aoji.
Sgt. Aoji! Commander is calling for you.
Okay.
Allow me to enter.
Sgt. Aoji has arrived.
They say you gave the solders horse meat.
- Yes, that's correct. - Where did you find it?
l killed the animal myself.
Bastard! You're just a frontline student! What the hell are you thinking?
And you call yourself a commander?
Stand up!
Know that this will go to the military court!
l'll strip yo of your rank!
Did they teach you at the university how to steal? Bastard.
lf you want meat so bad, l'll give you some high-grade beef!
Eat!
What are you doing here! Get out!
Well? lt smells like beef.
This is what it is!
Come on, eat it!
What are you doing, you brat!
ls that so! Maybe you want to fight the officer.
Sgt. Aoji did it for us.
Stop it, Kawanishi. That's not it.
lt was our idea, so please punish us.
Okay, l'll punish you.
But first show the soldiers everything you eat here.
Shut up! You're just a soldier, who do you think you are!
Soldiers are people too.
Kawanishi!
- Calm down! - Kawanishi!!
Stop it! Or something will happen!
Quickly. Get out of here!
What kind of boorish villain is he? This has not happened before in the army.
- He is against the war. - Fuck it...
We can't let him live.
We have to kill him secretly.
ls Private Kawanishi here?
Come with me!
Where did you kill that horse? Take me there.
Why are you resisting so much?
What?
Trying to protect Aoji?
Did you not understand why l punished him so severely?
The commander was in a rage.
He surely would have cut him in two half.
And you got involved so suddenly.
All my efforts have gone to waste.
l've always liked Aoji.
l know that you are suffering terribly.
- ls it still far? - We will arrive shortly.
YOUR MOTHER
This is for the sake of our homeland. l'm sorry!
Mother!
Now l will call you by name.
All who are not named, will not be recognized as patients.
They are to go back to heir platoons immediately and get ready for battle.
Do you understand?
- Cadet Kimura. - Yes.
Sgt. Yamada.
- Junior Sgt. Omati. - Yes.
- Private Chiba. - Yes.
- Private Minota. - Yes.
- Private ljuma. - Yes.
- Private Akiyama. - Yes.
Only seven men.
l want you seven to stay here and fight to the end.
lt's really hard for me to leave you here,
but this is an order from division command and nothing can be done about it.
l wish that you fulfill your task with all your courage.
l'm sure you've already decided it all in your hearts,
but remember the glory
you will get as the imperial gods of war.
ls that clear?
Doctor.
We will do our best. Please take us with you.
Doctor, please.
- Hey, we should take them with us. - Exactly.
- Take us with you! - That will not do!
Or we'll leave everyone here!
l'll not allow anyone to disobey orders.
Commander, sir, l'm Cadet Kimura.
l volunteered, so l don't care about death.
And if l should fall here, in this holy war,
l would become a spirit
and race to the sky over the battlefield.
Please calm down.
You're an imperial frontline student.
Each of you will get a grenade.
Everyone listen!
Military regulations: Death of a soldier.
Life and death
are linked with a noble spirit of self-sacrifice during service.
You need to rise above life and death to fulfill your duty to the end.
Attention!
Negisi unit of 15 soldiers is formed, the total number is 16 men.
One soldier is missing. That is private Kawanishi.
Ran away?
- We shall find him. - No need.
- But, lieutenant, sir... - This will only delay our departure.
Starting with the first company, forward!
March!
- First platoon forward! - March!
Forward!
- Platoon, forward! - March!
- Platoon, forward! - Yes, sir!
- Platoon, forward! - March!
Guys! Take care!
When you return home, give my regards to everyone there!
- Goodbye! - Goodbye!
Goodbye!
Stop it! Shut up immediately!
Who? You called me? Who was that?
Why did you break down over the murder of one man?
You've come to kill me?
Why are you here! Go away! Go away!
Chiba! Where are you going?
l'm going along with the unit.
See? l can walk.
Hey! Wait for me!
Wait for me!
Take me with you!
Take me with you.
l don't want to die here. l don't want to die here.
Wait for me.
l don't want to die.
Son.
Son!
There are tropical colors all around here.
They are so intense.
When a person looks at them all the time,
he begins to miss the soft tones, like a Cezanne painting.
Japanese mountains, rivers and the sea.
Ah, yes.
Don't whine.
l remembered something.
When you go out to sea, your body is saturated with water.
Sa?sara, sa?sara, in a noisy place, now you mustn't say you don't want to go there.
lf not, just say so, as a sa?sara doesn't go to a noisy place.
Sa?sara, sa?sara.
So, l'll go and take a shit.
Halt!
The commander no longer has a horse, so we will stop every minute.
At least we can take a break.
Flowers on the mountain are blooming, the whole coast covered in green lush.
These are not Kyoto flowers,
this is Yoshida mountain in the moonlight.
On the road, overgrown with summer greenery, when we look at the stars
in the sky,
filled with great hope, boiling in our hearts.
Aoji, sir.
Kawanishi...
Get up!
Bombardment!
Sounds like a scary spring thunderstorm.
lt can destroy someone's mind; it can hit someone's chest.
Your intermittent loud voices are echoing in my chest,
they feel like they are terribly cold.
Minato, listen.
We are still alive.
They always make fools out of us.
But what should l do to not make a fool out of myself?
Thinking about it all the time.
What is death?
l think that death in itself exists.
But does gradual dying exist,
and death that suddenly overwhelms you?
Now we are waiting to die in a sudden defeat.
This world is just like never-ending music.
Death is dancing on her notes.
But we will die faster than we can become
one of the notes of this symphony.
We will be expelled from her.
Fate gave us life from beginning till the end.
lt's morning already.
How beautiful is this?
l'll go to the lmperial Palace.
l'm going to inform His Royal Highness about the situation at the front.
Damn! Who's pouring this water on me?
Hey, you coward!
Come down!
l'll show you, you asshole!
Who allowed you to pour water on a superior?
Yamada-san, we will die together.
l don't want to! l don't want to!
l don't want to die! Murderer!
Somebody, help me!
We'll die together!
Death, which will destroy us!
You see these wonderful students, who have been abandoned at the front.
They are going to incur God's vengeance
and are getting ready to destroy the enemy.
The day that decides the fate of our empire has come.
One by one they leave the university benches
with courage and determination.
Just look at their enthusiastic spirit, their full-blooded youth.
On this day they joined the lmperial Army.
As representatives of His lmperial Highness, they promise
eternal prosperity to our invincible lmperial Army.
And from now on they will shine on the battlefield.
- Say, in which direction lies Japan? - l don't know.
West is over there.
Does it make a difference then?
Then it's there.
lt's his joints.
- Are you going? - l'll try to walk as far as l can.
Where to?
l feel as if my mother is calling to me.
l can't.
- l'm happy that l got to know you. - What are you saying?
Run already.
Goodbye!
Faith is the distance, as the last remnants of snow. Faith sparkles!
Let her sparkle all she wants, she'll become a power
that can lead a perfectly idle man.
Only solitude and freedom of the spirit
can help me recall
that l was once a human.
PLEASE SEND THESE SKETCHES TO JAPAN
TO THE lNSTlTUTE OF ART, WHEN THlS WAR ENDS.
Goodbye, Akiyama!
Dear Japanese soldiers, what are you all fighting for?
Your leaders, politicians and commanders are constantly repeating
that this is all for your country or for His lmperial Highness.
Your commanders are hiding in safe places,
from which they give you orders and make you fight
this terrible war.
Here! Here!
Now.
Can't see. l can't see.
Doctor, you got hit in you eyes? Doctor!
l need a doctor, help me!
Medic!
Come. Don't be afraid.
- You want to help? - That's good.
As you wish!
As they say, if it's for your country, then you must do it, like it or not.
All who are wounded, give your ammunition to the commanders!
Ammunition and provisions of those who died
will go to the the nearest person!
Join the army and leave a beautiful girl behind in tear.
Kawanishi is here, Kawanishi has come!
Look, over there.
Covered in blood. You see? So, that is the spirit.
He was shot in the back. So, be careful!
You brat, be careful!
Stop it, Tsuruta! What are you doing?
Oh, you shithead! You're just a soldier, who do you think you are?
Bastard!
ldiot!
Commander, sir, this will lead to the destruction of the unit.
You must make a decision.
ln this situation, it will be difficult to retreat with the entire unit.
We will take a few strong men and retreat only with them.
Then it will be enough to just send a report to the General Staff
that the whole unit has died.
Doctor!
The commander is calling for you.
Hey, what are you doing here again?
Getting in my way again?
You scum! That's it, this will be the end of you.
Stop it! Stop.
Commander, sir! Commander, sir!
Get down!
Doctor, how could you!
Careful!
Commander, sir! Mr. Kisino!
The commander is escaping!
The commander escaped!
The commander's gone!
Damn!
The commander escaped!
l'll show them, these bastards!
l don't want to die.
Absurd.
How absurd. lt's pointless. Who started this war anyway?
To hell with it!
Flowers on the mountain are blooming, the whole coast covered in green lush.
These are not Kyoto flowers,
this is Yoshida mountain in the moonlight.
On the road, overgrown with summer greenery, when we look at the stars
in the sky.
Professor, sir, hold on!
Professor, professor...
Help me!
Maki, are you all right? Maki. The rib cage? You'll cope with it.
Maki.
Our end is approaching.
Professor, sir.
When you return home, can you...
Can you take this to my home?
Tell them that l wrote everything l couldn't say in person right here.
Professor, sir.
lt's as if your last lecture at the university,
a lecture on Montaigne, was given only recently.
l then wanted
to tell you something, but in the end l couldn't.
lt was about Montaigne's view on death.
For the first time, Montaigne accepted death and
tried to strengthen his spirit when faced with it.
Gradually, he began to admire this arrogant death.
He went further and realized that the truth is the
study of life rather than the study of death.
Or he started to believe in future generations of mankind.
That is what l wanted to say back then,
but l couldn't
But l had to tell you that.
These are the words
that men facing death need to hear.
l was a coward.
Montaigne said something really bitter.
''Les hommes se donnant a louage'',
or ''People make use of things''.
''They do not make use of their abilities here for themselves,
but for the entity they serve or for their masters''.
ll faut mesnages la liberte...
Mother!
Damn you all!
''We should appreciate the freedom of our spirit,
we can only establish it in this true moment''.
Help!
''lf a man is used, he can't find the desired peace,
even after ten long years...
Today, it is the same with us...
Help!
l also betrayed my life.
Yes, l'm a forever falling rock.
That is so.
But we can do nothing about it anymore, Maki.
We buried the freedom of our souls.
ln this unjust, no less.
lt's too late. This is the end. We made a mistake.
Why, why did we give our souls to this war,
this bad dream?
THE END
Translation from the Russian subtitles: Bigvlad Translation edited: Warlord JVS