
The Blue Danube

The soldiers no longer know why they are at war, and when it even started. Daily and dutifully they march to the river and shoot at the opposite village from 9 to 5 – orders are orders after all. They’ve done so for decades. When private Tsuyuki is transferred to the marching band, people keep asking him what use music is in times of war.
[IFFR] The war during office hours, shots from 9 to 5, orders that are followed even if they are contradictory. No one knows how or when it started, no one wants to negotiate peace. The objective is to annihilate the enemy with monotony. Akira Ikeda's latest film works perfectly in its ironic look at the bureaucracy and the military establishment, in its absurd sense of humor and in its wonderful weirdness.