Four Days of Snow and Blood / 226 (1989) [Repost]

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Four Days of Snow and Blood / 226 (1989) [Repost]

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"Ni Ni Roku", English title "Four Days of Snow and Blood," is Hideo Gosha's tribute to the idealistic young officers who rebelled against the direction pursued by the Emperor and his advisors during the war in China. 2-2-6 refers to the date of the rebellion, February 26, 1936. With a cast of hundreds of Japan's finest actors, Gosha recreates the conflict between the hyper-militaristic faction and, perhaps, the last sane group of soldiers in the Emperor's Army. It was a climate of suspicion, when those who dared speak against the rise of the military state were brutally assassinated. Most of us know the history of the four tragic years from 1941 through 1945. This is a fascinating glimpse into the spectacular failure of restraint that led to bloody war in the Pacific.

Many may not be aware that during the 1930s a very covert civil war was going on in Japan and no government minister (and almost no military general officer) was safe from it. The conflict was chiefly between those who wanted to take over and exploit whatever parts of Asia could be conquered, and those with some sense of the limitations of this policy (whether they approved of it or not).

One of the key moments in this battle was the 1936 assassination of several government ministers by a cadre of junior officers. They were distressed about the continued existence of dire poverty and unemployment in Japan, despite their country's recent and successful conquest of Manchuria.

This film follows those young officers and takes the story up to the crucial day of February 26, when the attempted coup took place.

Special Features:
- Director's biography (4 text pages in Chinese & English)
- Director's filmography (2 text pages in Chinese & English)
- Collectible handbill with in-depth production notes (in chinese)