Men Behind the Sun
Short description
Set during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II, this film depicts the activities of Unit 731, a secret Japanese biological warfare research facility in occupied Manchuria. The story focuses on the brutal medical experiments and torture performed on Chinese and Russian prisoners of war, who are treated as disposable materials for scientific research. The narrative explores the dehumanization of the victims and the psychological impact on the Japanese personnel, including a group of teenagers trained to become soldiers. The plot centers on the leadership of General Shiro Ishii and the convictions of the camp's security chief, Takamura, as the unit attempts to develop weapons to change the course of the war.
Directed by Mou Tun-Fei, this is the second film in the director's chronological filmography following Dreams Of Eroticism. Produced in Hong Kong by Sil-Metropole Organisation, the movie features a cast including Gang Wang, Wang Runshen, and Mei Zhaohua. It is categorized within the history, horror, and war genres. The film has received a moderate reception from viewers, holding a 6.1 rating on IMDb from 7,075 votes and a 6.3 rating on TMDB from 279 votes.
What's left behind the scenes
- The original title of the film translates to "Black Sun 731".
- After the very first screening in Japan, the film was pulled from release due to threats from the far-right to burn down cinemas. In many countries, parts of episodes were cut or the film was banned from showing due to its naturalism and brutality.
- The film's budget was rather modest. As a result, due to a lack of funds for dummies, real human corpses were used in some scenes. For example, in the scene of vivisection of a Chinese boy, a real child's corpse was used. Director Tong Fei Mou spent an entire month searching for a corpse of approximately the same age as the boy who played the role, until he was informed about the availability of a child's corpse who had died in an accident. Tong Fei Mou personally met with the boy's parents and received their consent for an autopsy to be performed in front of the camera (pig organs were used for close-ups). Since the faces of the actors playing the doctors were not in the camera's field of vision at that moment, they were played by professional pathologists.
- The girl whose hands are subjected to frostbite and then skinned was played by Tong Fei Mou's niece – he simply couldn't find an actress who would agree to play the role.
- It was only in 2010 that Mou Tung-fei admitted that the cat thrown into the room with rats was in no danger. For the shoot, its fur was smeared with honey dyed to look like blood; if you look closely, you can see that the rats are licking the cat, not biting it.
- It wasn't until 2010 that Tung Fei Mou admitted that the cat thrown into a room with rats was never in danger. For the filming, its fur was smeared with honey dyed to look like blood, and if you watch the scene carefully, you can see the rats only licking it, not biting.
- Due to budget constraints, real human corpses were used in some scenes. For example, a real child's corpse was used in the vivisection scene of the Chinese boy. Director Mou Tung-fai spent a whole month searching for a suitable corpse until he was informed of a child who had died in an accident. The director met with the boy's parents and obtained consent for the autopsy to be filmed (pig organs were used for the close-ups). The faces of the actors playing the doctors were not shown in this scene, so they were played by professional pathologists.
- After the very first screening in Japan, the film was withdrawn from theaters due to threats from far-right groups to burn down cinemas. In many countries, certain scenes were cut or the film was banned altogether due to its graphic violence.
- The title of the film translates as 'Black Sun 731'.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
