The husband may look like a caterpillar, but it's the wife who goes through a transformation.
Overview
During the Second Sino-Japanese War, in 1940, Lieutenant Kurokawa returns home as a honored and decorated soldier but deprived of his arms and legs lost in battle. All hopes, from the villagers and women to close family members, turn to Shigeko, the Lieutenant's wife. She must honor the Emperor and the country in setting an example for all by fulfilling her duty and taking care of the 'god soldier'. Kurokawa prior to leaving to fight in the war regularly beat and berated his wife for her barrenness and inability to bring him a son. When he returns home as an amputee with no hearing and no speech, his wife dutifully attends to him, even though he shows little appreciation for her dedicated care. His main concerns are getting fed and getting sex. Even in his own degraded condition, he manages to berate his wife. Eventually, though, his own memories infiltrate and he is haunted by his horrible, sadistic deeds, performed while in the duty of the Japanese military.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
"Caterpillar" is difficult to watch. But it's directed, acted and photographed well, and it's worth seeing even if it makes you uncomfortable.
Blends a B-movie aesthetic, brilliant use of montage and documentary elements and a scathing critique of nationalism and militarism.
Might be read as a reaction to hawkish nationalism, but it's more a cry for the unknown soldier in the kitchen and bedroom.
Legendary Japanese softcore auteur Koji Wakamatsu channels Samuel Fuller for a twisted domestic-drama-cum-psychosexual-evisceration of Japan's fascist past.
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