This Japanese war drama follows Sakura Nishi (Ayako Wakao), an army nurse during the Sino-Japanese War. A young woman who just earned her certification, Nurse Nishi experiences many horrors first hand from amputations to sexual assault at the hands of an injured soldier. She lets none of these experiences slow her down in her quest to heal the sick and injured. She is transferred from a hospital at the rear to a front-line position where she meets Dr. Okabe (Shinsuke Ashida).
He teaches her the lay of the land, coaching her through the brutal methods used in the field. He is quick to trust her, enlisting her help in his daily morphine injections. Through their camaraderie in the triage and their philosophical nighttime conversations, a romance blossoms.
After some time, Nishi and Okabe return to the field hospital but are quickly re-deployed to a position on the front which must be held at all costs. The duo discovers a cholera outbreak and fights, hopelessly, to contain it. While the virus rips through their camp and the enemy surround them, the Japanese soldiers hold out for reinforcements. The enemy attacks with great force, bringing the film to a violent, boisterous, and tragic end.
This is not a film for the squeamish. Though shot in monochrome, the effects of this movie are spectacular and gut-wrenchingly real: It is a bloody, gory movie about a brutal war. Death hangs heavy over this beautiful and horrific drama. From the first scene, there are corpses and body parts on screen. Red Angel pulls very few punches in its portrayal of wartime medicine. The brutality of war is juxtaposed with the savagery of men and medicine. The film makes sure the viewer knows that there is no gentle war.
Dr. Okabe delivers a line that is at the core of the film’s message; He denies to Nurse Nishi that he is a doctor because he doesn’t heal people, he decides who lives and who dies based upon his limited resources. “Soldiers aren’t human beings,” he says, “They’re objects. Just weapons.” This moment and many others cement the idea that all people in war are dehumanized in some way, and that war is an expression of cruelty. As mentioned above, sexual assault is a subject of this film and should be considered when making patron recommendations. Anyone looking to expand their international film collections should look into this highly recommended film.