There's a strong indictment of Japanese militarism (and, by extension, male brutality towards women) in this melodramatic story of an army whore following the Emperor's troops into Manchuria. The strict code of military etiquette allows the long-suffering protagonist to serve enlisted men by day and only officers at night, one of whom (a sadistic, possessive martinet) becomes insanely jealous after she falls in love with a common foot soldier. The scenario often descends to histrionic overkill; at one point the heroine is seen running unscathed through a mortar and machine gun torn battlefield to be reunited with her lover, just before the two of them are captured by enemy troops. But director Seijun Suzuki compensates for the occasional over-plotting with some surprising stylistic tics and flourishes, although the ultimate effectiveness of the film has been sadly compromised by a deteriorated print, with often illegible subtitles. (Note: this was at a screening well before the advent of DVD technology, in Berkeley California back in the late 1980s)
