Anatahan [The Saga of Anatahan] **** (1953, Akemi Negishi, Tadashi Suganuma, Kisaburo Sawamura) – Classic Movie Review 8926

Director Josef von Sternberg ended his maverick career in style, directing the 1953 Anatahan [The Saga of Anatahan], an astonishing, action-packed, exciting wartime adventure thriller tale of destructive passions.

Anatahan [The Saga of Anatahan] is set in World War Two on the deserted, abandoned and forgotten island of Anatahan, where 12 Japanese seamen castaways commit murder over a woman.

The film is a highly personal curio, shot in August 1952 entirely in a converted Japanese aircraft hangar (Okazaki Industrial Pavilion, Kyoto, Japan), and packed with dazzling imagery that evokes a compelling mood of danger and desire, though the low budget and awkward acting limit the film’s success.

It is made in Japanese and there is a voice over commentary in English by Josef von Sternberg as Narrator.

Von Sternberg includes newsreel footage showing the return of the Japanese troops after Japan surrendered in 1945.

The main cast are Akemi Negishi, Tadashi Suganuma, Kisaburo Sawamura, Shôji Nakayama, Jun Fujikawa, Hiroshi Kondô, Shozo Miyashita, Tsuruemon Bando, Kikuji Onoe, Rokuriro Kineya, Daijiro Tamura, Chizuru Kitagawa, Takeshi Suzuki and Shiro Amikura.

Anatahan [The Saga of Anatahan] is directed by Josef von Sternberg, runs 91 minutes, is made by Daiwa, is released by Towa (1953) (Japan), Arias Quality Pictures (1954) (US) and London Films International (1954) (UK), is written by Josef von Sternberg, is shot in black and white by Josef von Sternberg and Kôzô Okazaki, is produced by Kazuo Takimura and is scored by Akira Ifukube, with Art Direction by Takashi Kono.

The restored version is released as The Saga of Anatahan by Eureka Entertainment in 2017 in the UK on Blu-ray and DVD in The Masters of Cinema collection.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8926

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