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. This Japanese film, named after the famous Strauss waltz "An der schönen blauen Donau", wryly highlights the absurdity of overbearing bureaucracy that Japan and many other countries suffer from. The beauty of the snippets of waltz Tsuyuki plays on his trumpet are a marked contrast to the pointless war, which largely remains out of sight. Ikeda Akira, who won a Tiger Award in 2014 for Anatomy of a Paper Clip, frames everything with military discipline. (International Film Festival Rotterdam)