This movie was a huge hit in Japan when it was released in 1998, but created a storm of controversy in other parts of the world because it allegedly portrayed Japan's World War II prime minister Tojo as a devoted nationalist and family man, while the rest of the world perceived him as a dictator devoted to making war against the West. One problem with the movie is that it's too long, but the cast is great, especially the Japanese actors. One miscast performance though is Ronny Cox as the Australian judge. Cox is too American for a role like this. It would have been better if they had put an Australian actor like Bryan Brown in the role.