Quote:
Originally Posted by TheWickerFan
As I said, I thought Cannibal Holocaust was a very well made film. As horrific as it was to watch the animal killings, there was motive and logic behind their use. The cat killing in Men Behind The Sun just seemed gratuitous.
There are lots of films about past war atrocities some good, some bad. Men Behind The Sun falls in the latter category.
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The thing is though, I don't think that a movie specifically about Unit 731 could be made and be nearly as effective without going to extremes. It's kind of a sad thing, but for quite a few people out there pain and suffering inflicted upon humans is quite tolerable. Inflict that same pain and suffering upon a cute animal and all hell breaks loose. So the cat scene in Men Behind the Sun isn't really that gratuitous. For the people who watch the film and maybe aren't that fazed by what's being done to the humans, possibly the scene with the cat will reinforce just how cruel the Japanese were. Many people can accept people being tortured in the name of war, but cute fuzzy animals? No way. A soldier torturing an enemy can be viewed as just doing his job as a soldier. A soldier torturing a cute fuzzy cat can typically only be seen as a sadist. That scene again, just a reinforcement of what kind of people Unit 731 were. Is it over the top? For sure, but I wouldn't call it unnecessary or out of place at all in the film.