IMDb RATING
7.0/10
1.4K
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From June 1944, twelve Japanese seamen are stranded for seven years on an abandoned and forgotten island called Anatahan.From June 1944, twelve Japanese seamen are stranded for seven years on an abandoned and forgotten island called Anatahan.From June 1944, twelve Japanese seamen are stranded for seven years on an abandoned and forgotten island called Anatahan.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
Tadashi Suganuma
- Kusakabe, Husband of Keiko
- (as Suganuma)
Kisaburo Sawamura
- Kuroda
- (as Sawamura)
Shôji Nakayama
- Nishio
- (as Nakayama)
Jun Fujikawa
- Yoshisato
- (as Fujikawa)
Hiroshi Kondô
- Yanaginuma
- (as Kondo)
Shozo Miyashita
- Sennami
- (as Miyashita)
Tsuruemon Bando
- Doi
- (as Tsuruemon)
Kikuji Onoe
- Kaneda
- (as Kikuji)
Rokuriro Kineya
- Marui
- (as Rokuriro)
Daijiro Tamura
- Kanzaki
- (as Tamura)
Chizuru Kitagawa
- A Homesick One
- (as Kitagawa)
Takeshi Suzuki
- Takahashi
- (as Suzuki)
Shirô Amakusa
- Amanuma
- (as Amikura)
Josef von Sternberg
- Narrator
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe plot is based on the actual story of one Japanese woman and 30-odd Japanese soldiers and sailors who remained on the island of Anatahan from June 1944 to 1951, when they were evacuated by the US Navy six years after the end of WWII. Due to inter-male conflicts about the woman, as well as probably disease and starvation, only 20 men survived. One of the survivors wrote the book "Anatahan" the movie is based on. However, Sternberg reduced the number of males to 13 for narrative purposes. (Source: Wikipedia ENG & FR and related links.)
- Crazy creditsIn the English-language version, all of the Japanese cast and crew members except Akemi Negishi are billed solely by their last names.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Cinéastes de notre temps: D'un silence l'autre (1967)
- SoundtracksAsatoya yunta
Composed by Chôhô Miyara
Sung by men with alternate lyrics
Featured review
Interesting drama
June 1944. A group of Japanese sailors and soldiers end up on Anatahan, an isolated island, after their boats are sunk by US planes. The island is not deserted: a man and his wife live there. He is not pleased to see them and she and her beauty will test the group's discipline, cohesion and selflessness.
An interesting drama, written and directed by Josef von Sternberg (The Blue Angel, The Last Command, amongst others). Shows how easy it is for people to return to their baser, primal instincts and the effect this has on their behaviour and their community. Has a sort of Lord of the Flies quality to it (or more appropriately, vice versa, as this was released a year before Lord of the Flies was published).
The ending is a bit flat, however. It all seemed set up for a powerful, profound ending but then it wrapped up quite tamely and neatly. A bit disappointing, due to that.
An interesting drama, written and directed by Josef von Sternberg (The Blue Angel, The Last Command, amongst others). Shows how easy it is for people to return to their baser, primal instincts and the effect this has on their behaviour and their community. Has a sort of Lord of the Flies quality to it (or more appropriately, vice versa, as this was released a year before Lord of the Flies was published).
The ending is a bit flat, however. It all seemed set up for a powerful, profound ending but then it wrapped up quite tamely and neatly. A bit disappointing, due to that.
- How long is Anatahan?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- The Devil's Pitchfork
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $8,171
- Gross worldwide
- $8,171
- Runtime1 hour 31 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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