The Blue Danube

  • 105'
  • Japan
  • 2020

The soldiers no longer know why they are at war, and when it even started. Daily and dutifully they march to the river and shoot at the opposite village from 9 to 5 – orders are orders after all. They’ve done so for decades. When private Tsuyuki is transferred to the marching band, people keep asking him what use music is in times of war.

This Japanese film, named after the famous Strauss waltz An der schönen blauen Donau, wryly highlights the absurdity of overbearing bureaucracy that Japan and many other countries suffer from. The beauty of the snippets of waltz Tsuyuki plays on his trumpet are a marked contrast to the pointless war, which largely remains out of sight. Ikeda Akira, who won a Tiger Award in 2014 for Anatomy of a Paper Clip, frames everything with military discipline.

  • 105'
  • Japan
  • 2020
Director
Ikeda Akira
Premiere
International premiere
Country of production
Japan
Year
2020
Festival Edition
IFFR 2021
Length
105'
Medium
DCP
Original title
Kimajimegakutai no Bonyarisenso
Language
Japanese
Producer
Honma Hideyuki
Production Company
Visual Industry Promotion Organization - VIPO
Sales
Bitters End
Screenplay
Ikeda Akira
Cinematography
Ikeda Naoya
Editor
Ikeda Akira
Production Design
Kanda Satoshi
Music
Kamimura Shuhei
Cast
Maehara Ko, Konno Hiroki, Nakajima Hiroki, Shimizu Naoya
Website
http://akiraikedagallery.com/
Director
Ikeda Akira
Premiere
International premiere
Country of production
Japan
Year
2020
Festival Edition
IFFR 2021
Length
105'
Medium
DCP
Original title
Kimajimegakutai no Bonyarisenso
Language
Japanese
Producer
Honma Hideyuki
Production Company
Visual Industry Promotion Organization - VIPO
Sales
Bitters End
Screenplay
Ikeda Akira
Cinematography
Ikeda Naoya
Editor
Ikeda Akira
Production Design
Kanda Satoshi
Music
Kamimura Shuhei
Cast
Maehara Ko, Konno Hiroki, Nakajima Hiroki, Shimizu Naoya
Website
http://akiraikedagallery.com/