Devils on the Doorstep was a pretty great film. It's one of those titles I added to my watchlist ages ago, and promptly forgot about; I don't even remember why or when I added it in the first place. But it was good to get around to it eventually, because it certainly left an impact. It reminded me a little of some Nagisa Oshima films, in a good way, mostly the tone and dark comedy of Death by Hanging, and the exploration of a clash of cultures between two sides of a war (captor and captive, though in a less expected way in Devils on the Doorstep) in Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence.
Just when I thought maybe Devils on the Doorstep was running out of steam, the third act really threw me for a loop and was hugely impactful. The first two acts are quite funny, and then things get a lot more intense and bleak in the final act, and the transition tonally is done incredibly well. The film's last few minutes will also stick with me for a while; I can tell already.
Just when I thought maybe Devils on the Doorstep was running out of steam, the third act really threw me for a loop and was hugely impactful. The first two acts are quite funny, and then things get a lot more intense and bleak in the final act, and the transition tonally is done incredibly well. The film's last few minutes will also stick with me for a while; I can tell already.