Taiyo o Nusunda Otoko
Encyclopedia
Taiyō o Nusunda Otoko also known as The Man Who Stole the Sun, is a 1979 satirical film
from Japan
, directed by Hasegawa Kazuhiko and written by Leonard Schrader
.
), a high school
science
and chemistry
teacher, has decided to build his own atomic bomb. Before stealing plutonium
isotopes from a nearby nuclear power
plant, he is involved in the botched hijack
of one of his school's buses during a field trip. Along with a police detective, Yamashita (Bunta Sugawara), he is able to overcome the hijacker and is publicly hailed as a hero.
Meanwhile, Makoto is able to extract enough plutonium from his stolen isotopes to create two bombs -- one genuine, the other containing only enough radioactive material to be detectable, but otherwise a fake. He plants the fake bomb in a public lavatory and phones the police and demands that Yamashita take the case. Since Makoto speaks to the police through a voice scrambler, Yamashita is unaware that Makoto is behind the whole thing.
Makoto manages to extort the government into showing baseball
games without cutting away for commercials. Flush with success, he follows radio personality "zero"'s suggestion to use the real bomb to extort the government into allowing the Rolling Stones to play in Japan (despite being barred from doing so due to Keith Richards
being arrested for narcotics possession). Eventually Makoto and Yamashita clash, but Makoto may die of radiation poisoning
before he can see his plan through to its conclusion.
-- namely, the satirical treatment of the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The film's specific area of satire is nuclear terrorism
, which, as in the previous film, was a subject largely considered unsatirizeable. Several scenes in the film are considered controversial
, such as a moment where Makoto uses scraps of plutonium metal to poison people in a public swimming pool
. The film had a particular resonance for Japanese audiences; while Japan does use nuclear power, the country has long held against maintaining a nuclear arsenal especially in the aftermath of the bombings of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki.
Much of the first hour of the film's running time is taken up with a highly technical depiction of Makoto building his homemade nuclear weapon, although key steps in the bomb-making process have apparently been omitted in the name of public safety.
The film won the Tokyo Blue Ribbon Award for Best Film of the Year in 1980, and was a critical and financial success in Japan on its release. It has only been released outside of Japan on home video.
In 1986, the American
film The Manhattan Project concerned a highly intelligent young man who makes his own atomic weapon.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
from Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, directed by Hasegawa Kazuhiko and written by Leonard Schrader
Leonard Schrader
Leonard Schrader was an American screenwriter and director, most notable for his ability to write Japanese language films and for his many collaborations with his brother, Paul Schrader...
.
Plot
Makoto (Kenji SawadaKenji Sawada
, nicknamed "Julie" , also-known as vocalist for the Japanese rock band The Tigers, is a Japanese singer, composer, lyricist and actor. He was born in Tsunoi, Iwami , Tottori Prefecture, Japan, and raised in Sakyo-ku, Kyoto at age 3...
), a high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
and chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
teacher, has decided to build his own atomic bomb. Before stealing plutonium
Plutonium
Plutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with the chemical symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation...
isotopes from a nearby nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
plant, he is involved in the botched hijack
Carjacking
Carjacking is a form of hijacking, where the crime is of stealing a motor vehicle and so also armed assault when the vehicle is occupied. Historically, such as in the rash of semi-trailer truck hijackings during the 1960s, the general term hijacking was used for that type of vehicle abduction,...
of one of his school's buses during a field trip. Along with a police detective, Yamashita (Bunta Sugawara), he is able to overcome the hijacker and is publicly hailed as a hero.
Meanwhile, Makoto is able to extract enough plutonium from his stolen isotopes to create two bombs -- one genuine, the other containing only enough radioactive material to be detectable, but otherwise a fake. He plants the fake bomb in a public lavatory and phones the police and demands that Yamashita take the case. Since Makoto speaks to the police through a voice scrambler, Yamashita is unaware that Makoto is behind the whole thing.
Makoto manages to extort the government into showing baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
games without cutting away for commercials. Flush with success, he follows radio personality "zero"'s suggestion to use the real bomb to extort the government into allowing the Rolling Stones to play in Japan (despite being barred from doing so due to Keith Richards
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
being arrested for narcotics possession). Eventually Makoto and Yamashita clash, but Makoto may die of radiation poisoning
Radiation poisoning
Acute radiation syndrome also known as radiation poisoning, radiation sickness or radiation toxicity, is a constellation of health effects which occur within several months of exposure to high amounts of ionizing radiation...
before he can see his plan through to its conclusion.
Cast
- Kenji SawadaKenji Sawada, nicknamed "Julie" , also-known as vocalist for the Japanese rock band The Tigers, is a Japanese singer, composer, lyricist and actor. He was born in Tsunoi, Iwami , Tottori Prefecture, Japan, and raised in Sakyo-ku, Kyoto at age 3...
as Makoto Kido - Bunta Sugawara as Inspector Yamashita
- Kimiko IkegamiKimiko Ikegamiis a Japanese actress. Born in Manhattan, New York City, she moved to Kyoto at age 3. Kimiko graduated from Horikoshi High School in Nakano, Tokyo and subsequently attended Tamagawa University. She is closely related to the Bandō Mitsugorō kabuki actors: her grandfather was the eighth, her uncle...
as Zero Sawai - Kazuo Kitamura as Tanaka
- Shigeru Kôyama as Nakayama
- Kei Satō as Dr. Ichikawa
Themes
Many elements of the film are similar to Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the BombDr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, commonly known as Dr. Strangelove, is a 1964 black comedy film which satirizes the nuclear scare. It was directed, produced, and co-written by Stanley Kubrick, starring Peter Sellers and George C. Scott, and featuring Sterling...
-- namely, the satirical treatment of the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The film's specific area of satire is nuclear terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
, which, as in the previous film, was a subject largely considered unsatirizeable. Several scenes in the film are considered controversial
Controversy
Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of opinion. The word was coined from the Latin controversia, as a composite of controversus – "turned in an opposite direction," from contra – "against" – and vertere – to turn, or versus , hence, "to turn...
, such as a moment where Makoto uses scraps of plutonium metal to poison people in a public swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
. The film had a particular resonance for Japanese audiences; while Japan does use nuclear power, the country has long held against maintaining a nuclear arsenal especially in the aftermath of the bombings of Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
and Nagasaki.
Much of the first hour of the film's running time is taken up with a highly technical depiction of Makoto building his homemade nuclear weapon, although key steps in the bomb-making process have apparently been omitted in the name of public safety.
The film won the Tokyo Blue Ribbon Award for Best Film of the Year in 1980, and was a critical and financial success in Japan on its release. It has only been released outside of Japan on home video.
In 1986, the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film The Manhattan Project concerned a highly intelligent young man who makes his own atomic weapon.
Wins
- Best Supporting Actor - Bunta Sugawara, Japan Academy Prize
- Best Film - Hochi Film Awards
- Best Actor - Kenji SawadaKenji Sawada, nicknamed "Julie" , also-known as vocalist for the Japanese rock band The Tigers, is a Japanese singer, composer, lyricist and actor. He was born in Tsunoi, Iwami , Tottori Prefecture, Japan, and raised in Sakyo-ku, Kyoto at age 3...
, Hochi Film Awards - Best Japanese Director - Kazuhiko HasegawaKazuhiko Hasegawais a Japanese film director. He won the award for Best Director at the 1st Yokohama Film Festival for The Man Who Stole the Sun.-Life and career:...
, Kinema Junpo Awards - Best Director - Kazuhiko HasegawaKazuhiko Hasegawais a Japanese film director. He won the award for Best Director at the 1st Yokohama Film Festival for The Man Who Stole the Sun.-Life and career:...
, Mainichi Film Award - Readers' Choice Award - Kazuhiko HasegawaKazuhiko Hasegawais a Japanese film director. He won the award for Best Director at the 1st Yokohama Film Festival for The Man Who Stole the Sun.-Life and career:...
, Mainichi Film Award - Best Film, Yokohama Film FestivalYokohama Film FestivalThe is a noticed yearly awards ceremony held in Japan. The festival was started as a small affair by fans and film critics, and first held on February 3, 1980. Ten films are chosen as the best of the year, and various awards are given to personnel...
- Best Director - Kazuhiko HasegawaKazuhiko Hasegawais a Japanese film director. He won the award for Best Director at the 1st Yokohama Film Festival for The Man Who Stole the Sun.-Life and career:...
, Yokohama Film Festival
Japan Academy Prize
- Best Film
- Best Actor - Kenji SawadaKenji Sawada, nicknamed "Julie" , also-known as vocalist for the Japanese rock band The Tigers, is a Japanese singer, composer, lyricist and actor. He was born in Tsunoi, Iwami , Tottori Prefecture, Japan, and raised in Sakyo-ku, Kyoto at age 3...
- Best Director - Kazuhiko HasegawaKazuhiko Hasegawais a Japanese film director. He won the award for Best Director at the 1st Yokohama Film Festival for The Man Who Stole the Sun.-Life and career:...
- Best Art Direction - Yoshinaga Yokoo
- Best Cinematography - Tatsuo Suzuki
- Best Lighting - Hideo Kumagai
- Best Sound - Kenichi Benitani