Having just read Nemesis by Chalmers Johnson , it was an intriguing coincidence to have the exquisite pleasure of seeing Imamuras 1961 depiction of the shady goings on in a US naval base town with a black underworld economy based around the waste and needs of the base infrastructure and personnel.
Petty crime and madcap schemes of a local mafia living off the needs and requirments engendered by the dynamics of the base are interspersed with the code of honour of traditional family way of life.A split personality culture is very much in evidence as the market orientated way of life in the basetown erodes all the values that sustain a community over a long period of time.In the end the director comes up with a compromise of sorts with things ending up in a continuous farce.
A nice symbol is portrayed in the end when the surviving character is forced to get on a train to get away from the place to a location more blessed with values and tradition than this war economy dependent ravaged town.
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