Entertainment

Caterpillar

The Japanese anti-war drama “Caterpillar” is difficult to watch. But it’s directed, acted and photographed well, and it’s worth seeing even if it makes you uncomfortable.

Lt. Kyuzo Kurokawa returns from the second Sino-Japanese war with three medals for bravery. But he’s minus all four limbs and his hearing, and the right side of his face is horribly disfigured.

He hasn’t lost his eyesight or his appetite for sex, which his wife, Shigeko, provides to the man revered by his neighbors as “a war god.” She dresses him in his army uniform and parades him through town in a wheelbarrow.

In flashbacks, we discover that her husband is a real SOB. During the war, he raped and disemboweled Chinese women; and before going into the army, he regularly beat his wife.

Now it’s payback time for Shigeko, whose pity has its limits. She soon takes to punching and taunting what remains of her husband.

Powerful performances are provided by Shinobu Terajima as the wife (she was named best actress at the Berlin Film Festival) and Shima Ohnishi as her tragic husband.

Veteran director Koji Wakamatsu is on target, avoiding exploitation. Even the sex scenes are discreet. The handsome cinematography is by Tomohiko Tsuji and Yoshihisa Toda.