Under the background of the global spread of the epidemic, the disaster film with the theme of viral infection has once again entered the public eye, and even several pirated film resource stations that I often visit have launched special collections for everyone to download and relive.
Coincidentally, yesterday when I was bored looking for old movies, I found a 40-year-old Japanese SF disaster movie "Resurrection Day". The classic setting of the global outbreak of the virus leading to the demise of mankind is very common, but I did not expect that the director of this film was actually the same Fukasaku Shinji who made "Battle Royale".
When it comes to Fukasaku Shinji, most domestic audiences should have the impression of him as "Battle Royale". When I was in junior high school, I watched this film for the first time, and I was so shocked that I could not speak—the cruelty of battle royale and the cold blood of the government subverted my young worldview.
The old man was 70 years old when he made this film, which fully explained what is called "the sword is not old". Prior to this, Fukasaku Shinji was also keen on directing gangster films and sword films, compared to the sci-fi apocalyptic theme of "Resurrection Day", which is an "alternative" work, and it is also relatively unpopular in China, and only more than 150 people on Douban have marked it as "seen".
As can be seen from the starring list, "Resurrection Day", released in 1980, is an international large-scale film. Among the actors are Olivia Hirsy in the 1968 version of "Juliet", George Kennedy, an old Hollywood drama bone, as well as local stars such as Masao Kusakari and Ogata, which can be described as star-studded.
In addition to the cast, the film also spent a lot of effort on filming materials: the filming of "Resurrection Day" accumulated more than 1 year, of which the overseas field shooting day reached 200 days. From Alaska in the north to Chile in the south, the crew's footsteps spanned most of the world, with a cumulative distance of 140,000 kilometers. Incidentally, Resurrection Day is also the first film in film history to use a 35mm cinema camera to be used on the Antarctic continent.
The submarine in the film is also a real guy sponsored by the Chilean Navy
As a result, the cost of the film naturally rises. The entire film cost 2.5 billion yen (3.2 billion yuan) to produce the film, the number one box office painting in Japan in 1980, and Akira Kurosawa's "Shadow Samurai" ration income of only 2.7 billion yen.
"Resurrection Day" 2.4 billion yuan box office not to mention profits, even the balance of payments is very reluctant. In fact, the quality of the film itself is not bad, and it can only be said that the upfront cost investment is too high and not well controlled. After all, not every director can burn more and earn more like Cameron.
In 1980, it ranked third at the Japanese film box office and did well
Let's go back to the movie itself. Like most viral disaster films, the plot of Resurrection Day is not complicated, and even somewhat templated: in the context of the Cold War, a group of spies stole the biological weapon virus "MM-88" secretly developed by the United States, but accidentally crashed and died while transporting. The virus then spread around the world, swallowing up human civilization.
The virus's only weakness is extreme cold, so only members of the national expeditions to Antarctica survived. Hundreds of surviving humanity had to survive together and face together the deadly threat from nuclear weapons.
The film spends nearly 1/3 of its time describing the horrors of the world around the world under the ravages of the virus, and revisiting this plot 40 years later, you will feel that everything is so familiar:
Because the epidemic first broke out on a large scale in Italy, the virus was named "Italian influenza" internationally.
Citizens rioted, the army was under martial law, and all kinds of cattle, snakes and ghosts appeared to do it, while ignorant and fearless young people gathered in nightclubs to jump around.
Medical institutions are overloaded, and medical staff are killed in the line of duty. Truckload after truckload of bodies was transported to the streets and incinerated on the spot.
And the American "whistleblower" who first realized the problem, the young researcher who was firmly opposed to biological and chemical weapons, was labeled mentally ill by the general at the beginning of the film and dragged away.
Movies come from life, and this sentence is really not an exaggeration at all.
The camera turns to the Antarctic continent, where more than 800 people, including the Japanese expedition team, have become the last humans on Earth, where they have formed the Antarctic Federal Council to figure out how to survive with limited resources.
The meeting scene in the movie is particularly interesting, the representatives of the United States, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom sat in the center of the venue, and the representatives of other countries sat at opposite ends, even if it is the moment of human life and death, the Cold War mentality is still imprinted in everyone's heart.
Fukasaku Shinji naturally will not let go of this good opportunity to make a fuss. At this fictitious meeting, the representatives of the Eastern European countries finally hardened and dared to confront the Soviets in person.
The phrase "there are no tanks here" pointed directly at the Prague Spring and gave a fierce breath.
One person unveiled the world, and the Chilean representative in the third world concocted the same method, aiming the spearhead at the Soviet Union and the US imperialists, and the tone was like a rebellious teenager. Looking at his indignant eyes, he was eager to put his fist on the faces of the two representatives in the next second.
Seeing that the assembly could not go on, the American major who was sitting and listening could not help but pull out his pistol and fire two shots, and the delegates who had just wrestled together were momentarily stunned, and even the atmosphere did not dare to breathe.
I punched hard, and as soon as I moved, I was silent. Seriously, I watch this shot once and laugh once. Just for this group scene, it is also worth making up the movie.
Even the Soviets couldn't help but want to complain
In contrast, another group scene in "Resurrection Day" is a bit "dark and cruel". A woman complained to the committee that she had been raped, and the committee, which was almost all male (855 men and 8 women), said that there was no way to do it in order to reproduce and ensure the continuation of humanity.
The committee also implicitly demanded that each woman should have offspring with multiple men, which was a very embarrassing scene.
Perhaps moved by slogans such as "continuation of human civilization", the 8 girls in the base silently accepted the fate of being used as a reproductive tool, rather than holding a group to resist the uprising. If such a plot were to be placed today, it is estimated that it would be warned by the female fist.
In fact, this plot alone can be taken out to make a movie alone. It's wonderful to think about humanity, humanity, and human rights in the extreme context of the end of the world. Unfortunately, the director did not continue to unfold this plot so far, and when the camera was given to this group of female compatriots again, they were either with big bellies or holding children.
Men are responsible for saving the world, women are responsible for giving birth at home or taking time to fall in love with the protagonist, this kind of facial character building is one of the shortcomings of the movie.
As the plot progresses, a threat more terrifying than a virus surfaces: the War Madman American General activates the ARS (Automatic Counterattack) system under the White House before his death, and an impending earthquake will trigger a nuclear war on a global scale, even at a scientific research station far away in Antarctica.
In order to keep humanity alive again, the protagonist of our little sense of existence, the Members of the Japanese Expedition Team, took the initiative to join the Death Squad, and the American Major returned to Washington by submarine, and then manually dismantled the nuclear bomb launch program.
At this point, the film has ushered in a real climax.
The human world in Resurrection Day experienced two deaths, the first because of a virus and the second because of a nuclear war. In the final analysis, it is all the sins of human beings themselves.
As a disaster film with an anti-war theme, the film has spent a lot of ink to show the ugliness of human civilization. Whether it is the deception and underestimation in the early days of the outbreak, or the mutual killing in desperate moments, these plots appear in the camera in a rough and straightforward way, quite violent.
As for the large-scale nuclear war at the end, it is undoubtedly a microcosm of the fears of the Cold War era: viruses and earthquakes are only catalysts and fuses, and the arms race between major powers and ideological confrontations are the culprits that lead to the destruction of the world.
The virus crossed the border, the corpses were everywhere, and the originally lively and developed human world was as silent as a dead city. On the contrary, the unpolluted Antarctic continent is full of vitality.
Just like the Antarctic aerial shot at the beginning of the movie, with a melodious English theme song, people feel calm and relieved.
A world without human strife is so beautiful, and what has humanity brought to the earth? Is it war, is it nuclear radiation, or are there thousands of sources of pollution?
I think this is also one of the reflections that the director wants to convey to the audience.
The film ending may be another slot in Resurrection Day. Probably out of consideration for the box office, Fukasaku Shinji followed the end of the original novel, and the male protagonist who carried the nuclear explosion walked across half the wasteland like an ascetic, and was finally reunited with other survivors.
Humanity did not perish, but was "resurrected" again after suffering, which is the meaning of the title.
I think the ending stops directly at the moment when the nuclear bomb explodes, which is more concise and profound. Putting a fairy tale-like HE on a disaster film greatly weakens the realism of the film, but it has a little more chicken soup and preachy meaning.
If you, like me, had previously met Shinji Fukasaku through Battle Royale and Battle Royale, then I highly recommend you watch this movie again. "Resurrection Day" tells the audience that the old man can not only control the genre film, but even this Hollywood-style disaster blockbuster is also handy.
Limited by the age of the shooting, some of the sets and special effects in the film appeared a bit rough. But the flaws are not hidden, you can still feel the full sincerity of the crew from the overwhelming overseas filming locations and the magnificent Antarctic scenery. Even today, 40 years later, "Resurrection Day" is not inferior in scale and subject matter to similar films.
Personal rating: 7.5/10, a buried masterpiece in a viral doomsday movie.
Reference quotes
The Day of Resurrection https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BE%A9%E6%B4%BB%E3%81%AE%E6%97%A5 #
Annual Movie Box Office Rankings https://entamedata.web.fc2.com/movie/movie_j1980.html