United Red Army

United Red Army is a 2007 Japanese film directed by Koji Wakamatsu that brings to life the true story of the rise and fall of the eponymous radical left-wing group in Japan. The film casts Maki Sakai, Arata Iura, and Akie Namiki in central roles, layered with intricate performances that depict the intensity, drama, and tragedy of these historical events.

The film opens in the politically turbulent 1960s and 1970s, where Japan's leftist student movements were at their zenith and global revolutionary fervor was shaking the core of societies. It was during this period that the United Red Army (URA) was born, a hybrid of two radical leftist groups: The Japanese Communist League-Red Army Faction and the Revolutionary Left Faction.

Maki Sakai portrays Fusako Shigenobu, the founder and former leader of the Japanese Red Army. Fusako's character serves as a core nexus of the narrative, solemnly and powerfully portrayed by Sakai. Her profound and steadfast commitment to the cause and her unyielding belief in the revolutionary ethos provide an insightful exploration of the ideological conviction that propelled these seminary events in Japanese history.

Arata Iura portrays Hiroshi Sakaguchi, one of the group members whose role is dynamically shaded. His complex, multidimensional character is a mirror to the individual struggles, ideologically driven fanaticism, existential questions, and emotional tugs that many of the members of the URA wrestled with.

Akie Namiki played a demanding role of a young URA recruit, giving us different angles to understand the psychology of these young militants, their motivations, their naivety, and the entanglement of their personal emotions in a larger cause.

The narrative of United Red Army unfolds in three acts. The first part provides a historical context to the formation of the URA, summarizing key political events in Japan, and the world, that triggered the rise of left-wing student movements. These events are not merely depicted in a documentary fashion, but Wakamatsu effectively uses archival footages to recreate an era marked by civil discontent, political unrest, and revolutionary zeal.

The second part of the film presents a harrowing account of the group’s internal purges – a desperate, fanatical, and tragic attempt at ideological purification that resulted in the death of twelve members in a mountainside lodge in Nagano Prefecture. This long and harrowing middle section is perhaps the film's most intense and claustrophobic, an intimate and relentless exploration of the group's toxic, self-destructive dynamics.

The final act focuses on the infamous Asama-Sanso Incident, when five members of the URA broke into a mountain lodge in Karuizawa, took the wife of the lodge keeper hostage, and triggered an intense ten-day siege by the police. The dramatic confrontation was a media sensation and marked the definitive end of the URA.

Wakamatsu’s cinematic storytelling is stern and unyielding. He uses a variety of techniques to maintain a sense of time and place, while finding the poignancy and tragedy in every moment. The movie is not just a historical rehashing of events but an in-depth exploration of a tragic saga of a group that was driven by a lust for revolutionary change but imploded amid dogmatism and brutality.

United Red Army elegantly swings between various cinematic techniques. It echoes Japanese cinema's tradition of moving between newsreel footage and narrative drama, blending them seamlessly towards a cohesive narrative. Moreover, the director's less-is-more approach to violence and dramatization fosters a sense of raw authenticity, and a haunting realism.

United Red Army is a film of considerable power and resonance. It is not only a document of a significant period in post-war Japanese history but also an exploration of how ideology can become a double-edged sword, capable of inspiring and destroying in equal measure. It's a strong, challenging film that gives a voice to a period in history that can often be overlooked or forgotten. It also serves as a reminder of the struggles that swept through societies during the turbulent end of the last century and the passionate, flawed, and often desperate individuals who played pivotal roles in them.