By Mike Davidson
VENICE, Sept 4 (Reuters) – Japanese director Shinya Tsukamoto said on Friday that growing fears of global conflict had compelled him to make a film about a traumatised U.S. Vietnam veteran, warning that modern audiences risk forgetting the horror of war.
Tsukamoto’s latest film, “Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People?”, premiering at the Venice Film Festival, is inspired by the life of Allen Nelson, an African American whose time in Vietnam left him haunted by guilt and post-traumatic stress disorder.
The director said he began work on the project seven years ago amid growing concern that Japan was shaking off its pacifist stance that has been in place since World War Two.
“Those worries haven’t diminished. In fact, they’ve increased,” Tsukamoto told Reuters.
KILLING UP CLOSE
The film is based on Nelson’s autobiography, recounting how he joined the U.S. Marines at 18 to escape extreme poverty, only to encounter a brutal conflict in which civilians were routinely killed on suspicion of aiding the Viet Cong.
The camera shows the slaughter and fear in shocking detail. “I wanted to start from the feeling of how terrifying war is,” said Tsukamoto, a filmmaker known for physically intense and graphic works such as “Tetsuo: The Iron Man”.
“Rather than seeing it in your mind, this movie is aimed at making you feel it with your body,” he said.
Actor Rodney Hicks, who plays Nelson, said he felt an “immense responsibility” taking on the role.
“We have had many Vietnam War stories, but we don’t have one that centres on an African American man veteran. And not just the soldier aspect of it. It also delves into mental illness in regards to PTSD,” he told a news conference.
What distinguished Nelson from many other war memoirists, Tsukamoto said, was his determination to confront his own actions honestly while trying to recover from the psychological damage they caused.
After returning home, Nelson struggled to rebuild his life, suffering from insomnia and panic attacks before receiving treatment. Geoffrey Rush plays his psychiatrist, constantly asking his patient why he had killed people.
Nelson later became a prominent anti-war speaker, making repeated visits to Japan, where he was struck by the country’s pacifist constitution.
“He especially loved seeing the faces of children who didn’t know about war,” Tsukamoto said. “He wanted to somehow protect those faces, not have them become soldiers in future.”
Nelson finally returned to Vietnam in 2005 to express his remorse over what had happened — a moment re-created in the film in a scene shot in front of an audience of Vietnamese, including locals who had fought in the war.
“There was a gentleman who was about 80 and he hugged me and he didn’t let go,” Hicks said, recalling his encounter with the audience. “And he said, you are American. I was Viet Cong and hearing this, hearing your words, Allen’s words, I found peace.”
Nelson died in 2015 from lung cancer due to his exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam war, the production team said.
Tsukamoto’s film is one of 21 movies competing for Venice’s Golden Lion award, which will be presented on September 12.
(Writing by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
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