Synopsis
Ginji the Slasher is a film that attacks the Japanese rightists. Instead of relying on typical political story telling conventions, the film relies on action to criticize the Japanese government. In 1953, Ginji murders 20 people, and 50 years later he escapes from prison. Kuroda, one of the people Ginji tried to kill 50 years before, has become a hidden force behind the government. After Ginji escapes from the authorities, he meets Park Do-han among the homeless. PARK helps Ginji hide from the pursuing authorities and in return, Ginji helps PARK from his Yakuza troubles. The Japanese government has forgotten Ginji and PARK, but their beginnings are very different. Trained as a special forces operative, Ginji tired to commit suicide, but due to Kuroda’s interference, he failed. With undying loyalty to the country, Ginji works for Kuroda even after World War II. But the vision of a new Japan and Kuroda were based on false hope. Ginji’s big brother, who died as a kamikaze, told him “the real enemy is closer than you think.” Not understanding what his brother meant, Ginji only realizes the meaning after he sees the true Kuroda and the false dream that is the Japanese Empire. Ginji the Slasher looks through the eyes of an aged Ginji at the unbending Japanese Empire, refusing to change with the times, and its stubbornness to look at its history for a better future. (KIM Bong-suk)