It has been 4 years since Nakai Masahiro's last acting job, and he was forced to wear a hat for months after filming this movie (because he had to shave his head). His performance in this film is inconsistent, as he was totally himself in few scenes, but he handled the dramatic scenes very well in my opinion. There are many big-name veteran actors in the cast, as well as fellow SMAP member, Kusanagi Tsuyoshi.
The cinematography of this film is very beautiful, with stunning sceneries of all seasons. Overall good direction, and some memorable and touching scenes.
The story is a bit right-wing though, with American war court portrayed as extremely evil and unfair, but I guess it's true the winner of wars write the history. One thing that really bothered me was that the ending seemed to be really rushed. Everything was going well for the protagonist, then out of blue, he was executed. I felt this movie could've developed the story better in the end about the sudden sentencing.
The cinematography of this film is very beautiful, with stunning sceneries of all seasons. Overall good direction, and some memorable and touching scenes.
The story is a bit right-wing though, with American war court portrayed as extremely evil and unfair, but I guess it's true the winner of wars write the history. One thing that really bothered me was that the ending seemed to be really rushed. Everything was going well for the protagonist, then out of blue, he was executed. I felt this movie could've developed the story better in the end about the sudden sentencing.