6.8 /10 1 Votes
3.6/5 Initial release 14 August 2010 (Japan) Box office 251,922 USD | 6.8/10 3.2/5 Produced by Takafumi Ohigata Edited by Shuichi Kakesu Music director Yumi Okada, Sally Kubota | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Written by Hisako KurosawaMasao Adachi Release date 15 February 2010 (2010-02-15) (Berlinale)14 August 2010 (2010-08-14) (Japan) Cinematography Tomohiko Tsuji, Yoshihisa Toda Cast Shinobu Terajima, Shima Ohnishi, Keigo Kasuya, Arata Iura, Sabu Kawahara Similar Military movies, War movies |
2010 apsa nominee caterpillar trailer
Caterpillar (キャタピラー, Kyatapirā) is a 2010 Japanese drama film directed by Kōji Wakamatsu, partially drawn from Edogawa Ranpo's banned short-story "The Caterpillar" (芋虫, Imomushi, 1929).
Contents

The film is a critique of the right-wing militarist nationalism that guided Japan's conduct in Asia during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. The film deals with various issues, such as war crimes, handicapped veterans, and spousal abuse. The film also deals with themes of sexual perversion and features graphic sex scenes.

It was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival. Shinobu Terajima received the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival for her portrayal of Kurokawa's wife.

Caterpillar trailer
Plot

The film is set in the late 1930s, during the Second Sino-Japanese War. In the first scene, Lieutenant Kurokawa scourges, rapes and disembowels Chinese people during the war. Later, he returns home as a war hero, but with a horribly mutilated body. He is alive but reduced to a torso (no limbs), deaf and mute, with burns covering half of his face, but with three medals on his chest. Despite his condition, he is still constantly eager for sex, which he performs acrobatically with his wife. The sexual acts are rough and are imposed on his wife, who is repelled by him, but who nevertheless feels a duty to take care of him. The film concludes with the disabled veteran Kurokawa committing suicide by dragging himself into a pond outside his home.
Cast

Themes

Wakamatsu's film is part of a recent Japanese trend seen in fashion, cartoons and videogames that question the country's past. The film is the political response to and criticism of Yukio Mishima's short film Patriotism. Caterpillar criticizes Japanese militarism, satirically deploys Japanese propaganda, and significantly politicizes and humanizes Edogawa Rampo's 1929 banned short-story. The film demystifies the glorification of war, which is used to hide war's grim reality. It also depicts the unfair demands placed on Japanese women, during war and peacetime.
Reception
The film received a 91% rating on film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. It grossed $4,157 at the domestic box office and $247,765 at the foreign box office for a combined Worldwide total of $251,922.
Awards
It was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival. Shinobu Terajima received the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival for her portrayal of Kurokawa's wife.