Zegen

Between the two world wars Japan is busy building an empire across East and Southeast Asia. Iheiji washes up penniless in Hong Kong, becomes a barber’s apprentice there and is soon drawn into intelligence work. When he comes upon a place where Japanese women are being held and made to work as prostitutes, he sees an opportunity and builds a chain of brothels across Asia. As Japan’s power in the region grows, so do both his fortune and his claim to patriotism. The film is based on what the man wrote about himself, and it shows someone who dressed the trade in women as heroism by stripping that costume off him. Ken Ogata plays the lead in Shohei Imamura’s hundred and twenty four minute film, completed in 1987.