New Delhi, May 18 -- One of the first things we notice in The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On is a slogan painted on a car belonging to anarchist Kenzo Okuzaki: "To kill ex-prime minister Kakuei Tanaka". A few minutes later, Okuzaki, 62, officiating as the go-between at a wedding, tells the guests how he killed a broker, shot a sling at Emperor Hirohito and went to jail. "Nation is a wall between men," he says. "I also consider family a wall. it's against the divine law. So I intend to continue attacking it."

As character introductions go, this one is perfect. Every behaviour Okuzaki exhibits in Kazuo Hara's 1987 documentary is hinted at here: the directness, the dissident mentality, the complete disregard of propriety and occasion, the ...