Kazuhiko Hasegawa's 1979 Thriller 'The Man Who Stole The Sun' Screened

The Sunday Morning Movie series featured Kazuhiko Hasegawa's 1979 Japanese thriller 'The Man Who Stole The Sun' (Taiyō wo nusunda otoko), runtime 2 hours 27 minutes, plus a bonus short silent film 'Ballet Mécanique' (1924). The film follows Makoto Kido, a disaffected high school science teacher who steals plutonium from a power plant, builds two bombs, and extorts the government—first demanding full baseball broadcasts, then a Rolling Stones concert. The plot includes a grizzled detective Yamashita who falls to his death, and ends with a ticking sound and explosion. Reviews praise its propulsive action, black comedy, and social commentary on mass media, generational conflict, and arms treaties. Lead performances by Kenji Sawada and Bunta Sugawara are highlighted. Director Hasegawa co-wrote with Leonard Schrader and directed only two films. The film was presented alongside the avant-garde silent French film 'Ballet Mécanique' (1924), an early experimental cinema example.