The Donkey Comes on a Tank (馬鹿が戦車でやって来る)

A SHOCHIKU PRESENTATION

Hajime Hana in...

THE DONKEY COMES ON A TANK

Shima Iwashita Hiroshi Inuzuka, Shoichi Ozawa

Tokue Hanazawa, Choko Iida Kenzo Tabu, Ichiro Sugai Tatsuo Matsumura

Takanobu Hozumi, Atsushi Watanabe Toyoko Takechi, Kyoko Kozakura

Shiro Amakusa, Fujio Tokita Koji Takahashi

Koei Yamamoto, Manami Hori Kanji Osugi, Yoji Doki Haruko Chichibu, Yasuko Goto

Taku Kido, Nobuo Takagi Kentaro Imai, Keiji Tsuchida

Osamu Saka, Masahiko Murase Koji Tonoike, Kodenji Ichikawa Ryuzo Takamine, Kenji Sonoda

Shosuke Oni, Akie Kokubun Fumio Toyama, Koji Shirotani

Eijiro Tono Kei Tani

Cinematography: Tetsuo Takaha Art Direction: Kiminobu Sato

Music: Ikuma Dan Audio Recording: Yukio Obi

Planning: Kiichi Ichikawa

Based on a idea by: Ikuma Dan Produced by: Shigeru Wakita

Written and Directed by: Yoji Yamada

This is a bust, Chief.

They're not biting, huh?

Boatman! This spot is no good!

Let's ship out to somewhere else.

Okay!

Are we going far?

Yeah, let's head to Tank Reef. It'll take about a half an hour.

Half an hour... Well, Chief, you wanna eat?

Sure.

Boatman...

Yeah?

You said, "Tank Reef"?

Yeah.

What's that?

Well...

In Tokyo Bay, there's a place where a B-29 fell called Airplane Reef.

Yeah, there is.

Is there a tank sunk down there?

Yeah...

Really?!

Yeah.

I see...

The tank corps must have dumped it at the end of the war.

No! That's not it!

Then, what's the deal?

Well, I'd tell you, but you'd never believe it...

Sounds interesting to me!

Tell us!

I dunno if it's interesting or not...

Do you guys know about Hinaga?

Uh, no. How do you write that?

"Hinaga" as in a long spring day.

Hinaga, huh?

That's a good name!

I dunno if it's good or bad...

But the people of Hinaga are a little strange.

Look!

See that nice, round mountain over there?

That's where Hinaga is.

It's not much, just a small village.

It was 4 years...

No, it was about 5 years ago.

In the outskirts of the village, lived the poorest family in town.

Most newcomers to the village are usually surprised to even find anyone out here.

Hello! Nice day today!

You must be Mr. Tsubaki?

Hm! A little screwy, huh?

Excuse me!

Hello!

Ma'am...

Ma'am!

Hey!

Careful up there!

It's dangerous!

Hey, get down...

Get down!

Who is messin' around out there?!

Bastard!

Huh? A policeman?

What do you want? I ain't done nothing wrong.

Phew, you got me... But it's nothing like that.

This is my first patrol since I was stationed in these mountains.

- So... You own this property? - Yeah! What of it?

I'm only asking!

What's that steel pipe sticking out of the roof? A chimney?

It's none of your business, is what!

Or is it illegal to have somethin' stickin' out of my roof?!

How dare you talk to me like that?! You got a problem with the police?

I don't!

Heiroku!

Watch out!

You can't fly without wings!

Well, well, well...

It's a fine day!

Yes...

Mom! This guy is new around here!

Oh, is that right?

Thanks for your hard work.

Says he's on patrol today! How about a cup o' tea?!

No, thank you. I'm on duty.

Hey, old man...

Hupsie!

What're you doing?

Hey! Sir!

Sir!

Are you hard of hearing?

How rude! I've still got my wits!

Oh... Trying to move that rock? I can help you...

Eh! Don't bother!

Hey! What are you doing now?!

Stop that!

You moved this yesterday, so I'm putting it back.

Come on, you senile old timer! I haven't touched this in 10 days.

You're full of it! It's moved an inch and a half!

Hmph! A rat must'a done that.

You brat!

Okay, now...

What are you doing?!

Hey! Leave it alone...

I wouldn't get in between those two!

But I can't just...

Just let it go, man!

Happens all the time...

Every 10 days, these two fight about this rock on the side of the road.

It's been 10 years of this.

Ten years?

Hello!

Hello?

Anybody home?

Someone's here!

Hello?

Oh! Honey!

Coming!

W... Welcome!

Th-thanks... Sorry to intrude.

Ah, I'm so embarassed!

You're the new guy, right? You caught me at an awkward time!

Thanks! Excuse me!

Won't you have a cup of tea?

No thanks... That's weird. There shouldn't be any buses running up here.

There was a long time ago.

But nobody took it, so it shut down. That was about 5 years ago.

Four years ago! That's when we got married.

Well, I'll be going.

Um...

Hiya! Nice day out!

Is Niemon Tachibana's house that way?

It's down the road that way.

Oh, thanks!

Are you the new guy in town?

Nice to meet ya!

Have some tea...

Sorry, I'm on duty!

Busy fella, ain't he?

Hello!

Hello!

Anybody home?

What d'you want?

Is Niemon Tachibana here?

He's away.

Where to?

I dunno!

When will he be back?

I dunno!

What is with everyone around here...?

Hey! What are you doing?

Oh, it's you from earlier!

I'm here to see Niemon Tachibana.

That's me.

Oh!

I see! Nice to meet you!

I'm Officer Hyakuta, recently transferred to the Yamanaka station.

Mr. Goto, my predecessor, told me to greet you first and foremost!

So?

So...? Here I am.

And that's it?

Huh?

What about peeking into my daughter's room?

Dad!

I apologize!

No, I'm sorry! He's always like this!

Well, we're done here. Good day!

Yessir! Goodbye!

Who's out there peeking?!

Wow... Well, that's one weird village, alright.

Around here we used to say, "Don't marry a Hinaga girl."

People in Hinaga are more interested in sipping tea and gossiping

than eating three meals a day.

What we mean is they're a bunch of slobs.

Slobs?

Okay, okay! But what about the tank?

Right...

In Hinaga, everything that went wrong

would be blamed on that poor family on the outskirts of town.

Missing chicken, "That family stole it."

Dog doesn't come home, "They ate it."

Pig dies, "They poisoned it!"

That kind of thing happens everywhere.

So, they got sick of it and came after 'em with the tank, huh?

Nah, just listen!

It'll be a while before we reach Tank Reef.

One day, Niemon went down to Sabu's house.

He wanted to resolve a decade-old land dispute.