The Man Who Stole the Sun (1979)
The Man Who Stole the Sun is existentialism taken to the next level. It’s an epic journey from start to finish.
I can best describe this as a high-tension thriller in the vain of Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low (1963) mixed with the existentialism of Taxi Driver (1974) and, on top of that, Kubrick’s satirical masterpiece Dr. Strangelove (1964). These are some of the influences on this film, but it’s certainly more than a mash-up of those films.
This is also an action film. There are high-speed chasing sequences that are very well done. There are different types of fights; hand to-hand and gunfights.
The action is very good and used moderately. This definitely helped with the pacing. There are also some very cool scenes edited in a French New Wave like way. The runtime flies by quickly, but at the same time, there is a sense of epicness. We feel each part of this journey as the characters interact and develop.
The film is very immersive, and we quickly get a sense of the world our characters live in. The geography of rooms is established, and the city is opened up and shown in all its beauty with some very beautiful wide shots.
The entire cast does a great job, most notably Bunta Sugawara as the detective (known for his roles as a Yakuza in the Kinji Fukasaku’s Battles Without Honour or Humanity series; there’s also an easter egg in this film about that, and strangely enough as a Ghibli voice actor in the 2000s) and, of course, Kenji Sawada as the protagonist/antagonist (known for playing a role in Paul Schrader’s Mishima A Life in Four Chapters (1985) and Seijun Suzuki’s Yumeji (1991)). Another connection between this film and Paul Schrader is that it’s co-written by his brother Leonard Schrader, which might explain the similarities between this and Taxi Driver.
High and Low’s hostage situation is almost the same here, from the blocking of the character to the editing, but instead of holding a child hostage, the entire country is the hostage.
And just like Dr. Strangelove, the fate of millions of people is in the hands of one man, Makoto Kido, a science teacher in a school. And with a nuclear bomb on the loose, this is also a thriller, and sure enough, there are plenty of moments of tension. These moments are spread out evenly throughout the movie, so it never feels too tiring nor too boring. The opening scene looks like something out of a James Bond film: a single man infiltrating a nuclear facility, stealing bombs and making a grandiose escape with bombs and a flame thrower.
This is not just the story of one man, but it’s the story of an entire nation. More specifically, it’s about the post-atomic bomb generation, and just as in Taxi Driver, our main character is faced with this emptiness and meaninglessness of life. There’s also a theme of reflections in the film, and not just thematically but also visually, this helps tie things together.
It’s also satirical of the Japanese government at the time and their relationship with the American government, their inability to act properly in the face of this danger, and how they keep lying to their own people.
The plot may seem absurd at some points, with a teacher stealing plutonium and making an atom bomb in his home laboratory all on his own, but it was still engaging and very enjoyable.
This film is a perfect blend of genres without sacrificing its identity. And all while striking at the heart of the problem of society.
