THE TOKYO TRIAL

Masaki Kobayashi culled THE TOKYO TRIAL's most crucial moments from the Pentagon's 170-hour archival footage covering the International Military Tribunal's 1946-1948 trial of Tojo and 27 other Japanese leaders for war crimes. Juxtaposing footage from the trial with newsreels of the fighting in the South Pacific and images of atrocities perpetrated in Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Vietnam, the director implies that the guilt for war crimes should be universally shared. THE TOKYO TRIAL is a fascinating socio-political history of the times, documenting riveting, life-and-death drama and, surprisingly, comic moments that relieve the tension. The trial directly influences Japan's decision to never arm herself again.