Mei is a jazz obsessed petty thief. Sergeant Gil Jackson, an American GI stationed in Japan, kills two of his fellow officers and goes on the run with a bullet in his leg. He holds Mei hostage in his own "home" - a rundown church in which Mei is squatting - and attempts to hide from the military police.
At first Mei is delighted to meet a "negro" and attempts to express this without language. Sergeant Jackson doesn't care. In a fit of anger he kills Mei's dog, and with it, Mei's fantastic view of African Americans. "You can't sing, you can't play trumpet," Mei yells at Jackson, not caring that he won't be able to understand. "You're a slave! An ox!"
Mei seizes the gun and decides to have fun at Jackson's expense. He paints the black man's face white and his own face black. As far as he is concerned, as a rabid Jazz fan he is more black than this uncool, importunate African American. They are able to evade the police who do not notice Jackson's real skin colour, and the GI convinces Mei to take him to the beach where he intends to die. Mei takes them to a quarry beside a junkyard, and when Jackson realises the error, he is so distraught he begins to sing, and Mei at last realises that there is something between himself and the dying man.
Black Sun is a fascinating movie about racial identity that people could still learn a lot from. It features many unforgettable sequences, such as the finale, with Jackson finally escaping tied to a balloon (although it looks a little fake when he is up in the air).
My only reservation is the way the actor speaks. He uses short bursts of dialogue that sound like exhalations. You cannot escape the impression that he speaks English the way people speak Japanese, perhaps due to a language barrier on the set.
All up, however, this is an unseen, under appreciated gem, showing remarkable insight into the civil rights question from a country and culture that did not play a direct role in it. There are many movies about black and white relations, and very few about black and Asian relations. This is one of the very best.
At first Mei is delighted to meet a "negro" and attempts to express this without language. Sergeant Jackson doesn't care. In a fit of anger he kills Mei's dog, and with it, Mei's fantastic view of African Americans. "You can't sing, you can't play trumpet," Mei yells at Jackson, not caring that he won't be able to understand. "You're a slave! An ox!"
Mei seizes the gun and decides to have fun at Jackson's expense. He paints the black man's face white and his own face black. As far as he is concerned, as a rabid Jazz fan he is more black than this uncool, importunate African American. They are able to evade the police who do not notice Jackson's real skin colour, and the GI convinces Mei to take him to the beach where he intends to die. Mei takes them to a quarry beside a junkyard, and when Jackson realises the error, he is so distraught he begins to sing, and Mei at last realises that there is something between himself and the dying man.
Black Sun is a fascinating movie about racial identity that people could still learn a lot from. It features many unforgettable sequences, such as the finale, with Jackson finally escaping tied to a balloon (although it looks a little fake when he is up in the air).
My only reservation is the way the actor speaks. He uses short bursts of dialogue that sound like exhalations. You cannot escape the impression that he speaks English the way people speak Japanese, perhaps due to a language barrier on the set.
All up, however, this is an unseen, under appreciated gem, showing remarkable insight into the civil rights question from a country and culture that did not play a direct role in it. There are many movies about black and white relations, and very few about black and Asian relations. This is one of the very best.
