KT

A speculative reconstruction of a never fully explained incident from 1973: the five-day disappearance in Japan of Kim Dae-Jung (then a politician opposed to South Korea's military dictatorship, later president of South Korea and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate). Kim (codenamed 'KT') was on a secret fund-raising visit to Tokyo when he was snatched from a hotel room; the film says the kidnappers were Korean CIA men abetted by Japan's army-in-all-but-name, the Jieitai, both working with the tacit approval of the United States. A director transformed since his success with Face, Sakamoto forgets about most of the conventions of thrillers and docu-dramas and approaches this as an analysis of the failure of post-war politics in Japan and South Korea. The film's moral compass points are provided by Tomita (Sato), a Mishima-worshipping fascist from the Jieitai, and Kamikawa (Harada), a cynical journalist: two tattered anti-heroes guaranteed to enrage viewers who come to the film from entrenched left- or right-wing positions. A smart piece of work.