Shohei Imamura:
In Search of the Unreturned Soldiers in Malaysia
M+ Cinema presents ‘Shohei Imamura: In Search of the Unreturned Soldiers in Malaysia', an investigation into the lives and experiences of Japanese soldiers who, during World War II, chose to desert military service and remain in Southeast Asia.
Celebrated film director Shohei Imamura made several path-breaking but rarely shown documentaries in a mid-career detour from 1967–1975. In two works originally made for Japanese television, Imamura travelled first to Malaysia and then to Thailand to investigate the lives and experiences of Japanese soldiers who, during World War II, chose to desert military service and remain in Southeast Asia. In Malaysia, Imamura follows one false lead after another as he tries to locate unreturned Japanese soldiers who had given up the culture of their home country to integrate with Malaysian society.
Through these circumlocutions through the complexities of post-war Malaysia, Imamura examines the conduct of the Japanese military in Southeast Asia, particularly during the 1942 Sook Ching massacre. He eventually tracks down A-Kim, a former soldier who has converted to Islam and lives in a Malaysian community. In conversations with Imamura, Kim describes the strange pact he has made with his country of birth.