In the opening sequence of the movie, a prison guard tries to committ suicide because he has been accused of raping a prisoner. The fact is further mentioned a bit later, and it is said that the victim could be assaulted again by other prisoners. Finally, when the guard commits a ritual suicide, it is hinted that the sexual relation was consensual and that the two were lovers. Worthy of note: the film centers on a homoerotic fixation of a Japanese captain towards a British officer in a WWII prisoner of war camp and thus features an asymmetrical relation of power. Additionnally, in a flashback scene, a hunchbacked child is mocked by his schoolmates during a fresher initiation. His shirt is ripped.