Sokoku (film)

Sokoku (祖国) is a 2010 Yamataian blockbuster action political thriller film written by Yamazaki Tamio, directed by Toyoda Etsushi and produced by Iikubo Sora.

Plot
A squad of dark-uniformed commandos infiltrate the National Archives of Yamatai in Heian, absconding with the actual Treaty of Fujishima, the document that formalised the merger of the Shogunate of Hinomoto and Imperialist Yamatai in 1867. The document on display to the public and billed as the actual document in the National Museum of Yuzu is actually a replica.

A montage over the opening credits explain that in the "near future", tensions between Yamatai and Chisei rise after a populist, right-wing nationalist government is elected in Chisei. One of the main demands of this new government is the full withdrawal of Yamataian troops - stationed in Chisei under the Treaty of Mutual Defensive Cooperation - from Chisei, as well as further reparations for the Yamataian occupation.

On the 17th of July, the anniversary of the union of Hinomoto and Yamatai, dissident Hinoan nationalist leader Kitajo Arishige (Kunimura Etsushi) publishes strong evidence that Hinoan Shogun Fukumura Masakage's seal was falsified on the Treaty of Fujishima, thus invalidating Yamatai's dominion over Hinomoto. Public anger throughout Hinomoto increases, especially due to the 2009 hit-and-run incident involving an Imperial Army truck running over three schoolchildren. The Yamataian government quickly attempts to refute the accusation, though with the actual Treaty having been stolen earlier they inadvertently reveal that the 'actual document' on display is a fake. Emboldened by this turn of events, various Hinoan nationalist rebel groups begin carrying out brazen acts of terrorism against the Yamataian government.

Suzukawa Ichiro (Asano Nobuya), a maverick field agent of the Imperial Security Agency, is tasked by ISA Vice-Director Murayama Sachiko (Ikehara Yoko) with locating the actual Treaty of Fujishima before the situation goes out of control. He is partnered with Fukuhara Harumi (Okabe Kazuko), an ethnic Hinoan agent on loan from the Hinoan Counter-Insurgent Task Force. The pair begin their investigations at the National Archives of Yamatai, but fail to find any clues. They next decide to go after Kitajo Arishige, who is living in political asylum in Chisei, though he maintains a mansion in Ōyama. Meanwhile, the Yamatai Imperial Navy submarine い-344, captained by Commander Murata Hideo (Toyokawa Jun), detects an unknown submarine in the Sea of Yashima.

Arriving at Kitajo's residence in Ōyama, Suzukawa and Fukuhara are chased away by Hinoan Resistance Front thugs. That night, with Fukuhara hacking the security cameras and providing overwatch, Suzukawa violently infiltrates the mansion with an ISA TokuSa team and steals Kitajo's hard drives. A shootout ensues when more Hinoan Resistance Front members show up, with Fukuhara displaying excellent sniping skills. Just when the Resistance Front begins to overwhelm the ISA agents, attack helicopters and Yamatai Imperial Army troops show up and drive the guerillas away.

Analysis of Kitajo's hard drives reveals encrypted plans for an "Operation Sokoku", though the ISA technicians are unable to access it yet. Suzukawa and Fukuhara decide to follow another lead, moving to investigate a spot in the Tsuno Fjords in the north of Hinomoto that was marked on a map. At the same time, Commander Murata on い-344 realises that he is following a Chiseian Royal Navy submarine. It is then revealed that the two submarines' current location is at the very entrance to the Tsuno Fjords, at the northern end of Hinomoto.

After over a day of waiting in a field command post close the secluded bay marked on the map, the TokuSa scout team watching the bay finally reports a surge in activity close to sunset. The ISA agents and TokuSa strike team begin to move out in their trucks when contact is suddenly lost with the scout team. When the ISA arrives at the bay, the lead vehicle is suddenly blown up by an IED, and a massive firefight breaks out between the ISA forces and unknown soldiers. As the battle develops, the ISA agents spot what the soldiers are protecting: the Chiseian submarine has surfaced in the bay, and Revolutionary Front troops as well as Chiseian sailors are unloading various cargoes from the submarine.

The remaining ISA TokuSa sacrifice themselves in a last stand to allow Suzukawa and Fukuhara to escape with photographs of the Chiseian troops on Hinomoto, with the pair escaping in a car chase before they are saved by Fukuhara's former colleagues in the Counter-Insurgent Task Force. Suzukawa passes the photographs to Murayama at the ISA headquarters in Yuzu. Their meeting is interrupted by a sudden call from the Ministry of Defence; the Chiseian Royal Navy has mobilised into the Sea of Yashima, and the Royal Army has begun blockading the Yamataian troops on the mainland within their bases. The Yamatai Imperial Air Force and Imperial Navy scramble to meet several simultaneous Royal Navy and Royal Air Force threats while the Yamataian Prime Minister (Shimamoto Tadanobu) is briefed of the situation in his office. The Prime Minister vows retaliation.

Kitajo Arishige suddenly appears on a live broadcast, declaring Hinomoto's independence from Yamatai on the basis that the Treaty of Fujishima was falsified and forced upon the Hinoan people. Chisei's government declares that it is merely deploying its forces on routine counter-terrorism exercises and to "maintain the security of the region". After these proclamations, the Chiseian submarine initiates a submarine duel with い-344 within the confines of the Tsuno Fjords, with both submarines becoming damaged and withdrawing. After part of the Operation Sokoku plans are decrypted, Fukuhara deduces that the actual Treaty of Fujishima had likely been stolen by Chiseian special forces and is now safe in Kitajo's hands in Chisei, with Chisei now moving to support Kitajo's bid for Hinoan independence in order to weaken Yamatai and force them to withdraw their mainland troops. Suzukawa demands Murayama allow them to infiltrate Kitajo's residence in Chisei to obtain the document, but is denied by the Director of the ISA pulling rank on Murayama. However, after Commander Murata escapes from the Fjords and submits his report of the engagement, the Prime Minister himself orders the ISA to carry out the operation.

Suzukawa, Fukuhara, and another team of ISA TokuSa subsequently carry out a night-time HALO jump into Wanshu. Under the cover of a major storm, the ISA agents infiltrate the mansion, with Fukuhara and a TokuSa sniper in a sniper's nest and Suzukawa leading the TokuSa operators in a dramatic close-quarters fight with Kitajo's bodyguards. The team ultimately breaches Kitajo's office to find the entire room booby-trapped, with a massive explosion rocking the building. Spotting a fleeing vehicle, Fukuhara and the other TokuSa sniper give chase. After their vehicles both crash in the Port of Wanshu, Kitajo shoots the TokuSa sniper and engages Fukuhara in hand-to-hand combat, almost killing her when Suzukawa shows up having survived the blast. The two engage in a lengthy martial arts fight before Fukuhara stops Suzukawa from killing Kitajo, reminding him of the mission. Searching his vehicle, the actual Treaty of Fujishma is discovered.

After rapid analysis by Yamataian experts and historians, as well as invited Chiseian experts for impartiality, it is officially determined that Kitajo's claims were entirely untrue. As the Yamataian Prime Minister and the Chief Executive of Hinomoto (Ogawa Chie) proclaim this fact on a live broadcast, the Chiseian military forces quietly turn away from Yamatai and return home. The Chiseian Ambassador to Yamatai (Kanai Akane) agrees that they would overlook the attack on Kitajo and drop some of their demands in return for Yamatai not revealing the submarine battle and special forces invasion to the international community. The Ambassador gives a throwaway line that she too is uncomfortable with the situation, but they were all forced on this path by the populists in charge.

On the ISA Yuzu headquarters' helipad, Suzukawa bids farewell to Fukuhara. He is returning to mainland Yamatai, while she is returning to the Hinoan Counter-Insurgent Task Force. Both express a hope that the fragile peace and shared prosperity between Yamatai and Hinomoto, built by like-minded people on both sides for 150 years, can continue into the future.

Cast

 * Asano Nobuya: ISA Agent Suzukawa Ichiro
 * Okabe Kazuko: Hinoan Counter-Insurgency Task Force Agent Fukuhara Harumi
 * Toyokawa Jun: Yamatai Imperial Navy Commander Murata Hideo
 * Kunimura Etsushi: Hinoan separatist leader Kitajo Arishige
 * Ikehara Yoko: ISA Vice-Director Murayama Sachiko
 * Shimamoto Tadanobu: Yamataian Prime Minister Tanigawa
 * Ogawa Chie: Chief Executive of Hinomoto Ito
 * Kanai Akane: Chiseian Ambassador to Yamatai

Production
The screenplay was written by Yamazaki Tamio, a novelist well known for his alternate history military thriller novels. The screenplay adapts parts of Yamazaki's novels Hino Maru and The Sea Runs Yellow, though is not an adaptation of either. Though Yamazaki's script had been floating around Miyamoto for years, few producers were willing to touch the script due to its intimidating amount of settings and action scenes. Yamazaki's script required several rewrites to reduce the run-time of the film, and insider leaks revealed that the script initially had entire scenes involving the new ultranationalist Chiseian government as well as a set-piece battle scene between the Yamatai Imperial Army and an unspecified enemy force.

Famous war film director Toyoda Etsushi was brought by producer Iikubo Sora onto the project. Toyoda was reportedly initially hesitant to direct the film due to concerns over the film's reception in Chisei, with Yamazaki making some changes to the script to reduce the antagonism displayed by the Chiseians. It was also at Toyoda's urging were Hinoan actors cast in the roles for Hinoans, with Okabe Kazuko replacing Fukumura Sakurako at the last moment for the role of Fukuhara Harumi. During filming, Toyokawa Jun was slightly injured when the prop periscope in the submarine interior set detached from the ceiling and struck his head. Three stuntmen were also injured when their vehicle accidentally rolled off a north Hinoan coastal road, though there were no fatalities.

Much of the film was shot on-location in Hinomoto, though most urban scenes were filmed in Okayama and on a sound stage. Scenes set in Wanshu were filmed in Wangan.

Reception
Yamataian critics were not supportive of the film, with the general consensus being that the only positive points of the film were its special effects and action sequences. Several factual errors, such as the depiction of a submarine duel in the Tsuno Fjords, were touted as examples of the over-the-top nature of the film. The Akagi Shinbun gave the film a largely negative review, calling its plot nonsensical and criticizing the heavy-handed nationalism. The review questioned the intended audience of the film since anti-Chiseian views are no longer common in Yamataian society other than in the extreme right wing.

In response to the anti-Chiseian stance of the film, several Chiseian groups declared a boycott of the film and called for the film and the production staff to be banned from Chisei. Though the banning did not occur, the film attracted a large amount of negative publicity in Chisei. Writer Yamazaki Tamio later gave an exclusive YaHoKyo interview to explain that the film was not anti-Chiseian, but "pro-Yashiman".

The negative publicity surrounding the film caused director Toyoda Etsushi to withdraw from the public eye until the release of his universally acclaimed 2016 war epic, Wait For Me.

Despite the strong negative critical response to the film, the film was well-received by Yamataian audiences and made a large box office, being the second-highest grossing film of 2010, behind Ephemeral Saturday Night!. The film maintains a strong cult following due to its action-packed scenes and faithful depiction of military hardware, a signature of director Toyoda Etsushi. At one point, a petition to create a sequel was launched, though following the fiasco Toyoda refused to have anything to do with the film.