Category: anti-war

Categories
anime anti-war drama, melodrama

Film Review of “Hotaru no haka” (Grave of the Fireflies)

Takahata Isao’s 1988 animation film Hotaru no haka (Grave of the Fireflies) tells a heartwarming but sad story of a fourteen-year-old brother and his little younger sister, who have to survive under the cruel war. It is worth mentioning that this piece has been regarded by some Western movie commentators as one of the most influential anti-war movies. This Japanese animation film is worth winning our attention because of its technical achievements alone: the use of fantastic and delicate color and beautiful background music. By these accomplishments, Hotaru no haka will probably always attract audiences from many countries and of different generations, however, from my point of view, the reason why the film is so fascinating is that it reflects the destruction of the war on Japanese society. The film may be more important as it attempts to show the disaster caused by the war on human society to all audiences especially for people who has experienced wars.

As a film with a clear war/anti-war theme, the indictment for the war is primarily focused on the ravages of the war on society and individuals. In the movie, the characters’ family could have been very happy: their mother is beautiful and elegant, and their father is a naval officer, who is respected by other people, however, the cruel war took away the lives of their parents. Thus, these two poor kids become orphans. Although it could be luck for them to escape from the bomb raid, they have lost their happy family forever and have to face hunger. I found myself totally attracted by the honest description of the two characters’ suffering about the war from one scene the most. It is a scene that the brother is playing in the water with his younger sister at the beach. The relentless war can’t stop the deep feelings between the brother and his younger sister. At this time, the recall is expanding and the brother’s mind is gradually filled by memories: in the same place during the peacetime when their mother was still alive, they were so happy as they could play carefree and plenty of fine food was waiting for them to eat. Soon, his mind pulled back by the fighters’ sound…Therefore, Hotaru no haka provides the audiences with an honest look at how such war is in the Japanese history. What this film highlights, however, is not only the true reflection of the destruction of the war on the society but also how it presents human nature throughout this cruel war. From my point of view, what the film wants to display in addition to the mutilation of the relentless war on human is that under such extreme living conditions, human nature exists beyond all. I still remember the scene in which the brother degenerates into a thief and shouts “let the bomb come” violently.

After watching this film, I would like to present some personal views about some previous war/anti-war films that were manufactured in China. In most of our previous war/anti-war films, the description of the war is different in our movies. Our soldiers are always very brave and wise while the enemy is in the country. We always win, the enemies always fail. Rather than demonstrating the performance of human nature in the war/anti-war film, our film shows too much of our courage, wisdom, tenacity and strength. How come such unreal portrayal which lacks a description of human nature can strongly touch audiences’ hearts!

In conclusion, I consider this film as the best war/anti-war film I have ever watched and strongly recommend it to people who haven’t seen it yet.

Categories
anime anti-war drama, melodrama

No Better Approach than the Anime: “Grave of the Fireflies” and Emotional Representation

Takahata Isao’s Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no haka, 1988) is an anime film which tells the tragic story of a young pre-teen boy and his younger sister who struggle to survive during the final years of WWII in Kobe, Japan. For an animated film, Grave of the Fireflies deals with an extremely sensitive and realistic topic. Though this may be common to the Japanese anime tradition, where serious topics are often depicted in animated form, I think those who have a more westernized view of animated films will be surprised at the emotional intensity in Takahata’s Grave of the Fireflies. Instead of taking away from or making light of such important issues like, the Kobe air raids, the animation does the opposite. There is a way in which the anime is able to distance the viewer in order to reach an emotional truth or universality that live-action films cannot replicate. Therefore, as an anime film, Grave of the Fireflies is able to handle the sensitive/traumatic subject of war trauma or victimization, to great effect.

The film begins with a shot on an adolescent boy named Seita. He is basked in red light and his voiceover says, “September 21, 1945…that was the night I died.” A tin can is found by his lifeless body and is tossed away. A small white bone falls out and the spirit of Seita’s little sister, Setsuko appears. She looks around puzzled but is soon joined by the spirit of her brother. The siblings happily rejoice and share candy fruit drops from the tin can as they ride the train. The film is then told in flashback and cuts to Seita, Setsuko and their mother preparing to evacuate their home, because of an oncoming air raid. The film follows the siblings as they struggle to find food and shelter after their home and city is destroyed by the bombings.

From the first scene, the spectator instantly knows the film deals with death, tragedy and real historical events. Yet the film is able to avoid feeling too dramatized or overwhelming by the sheer fact that it is in animation. Animation is associated with children, exaggeration and elaborated stories. Because of this familiar connotation, dramatization or unrealistic portrayals can be expected in the anime genre. For instance, in the opening scene, the red luminous lighting which represents a sort of afterlife, evokes a haunting atmosphere, but it is oversaturated and stylized. As well, and most obvious, are the drawings of the characters. Seiki and Setsuko are in no way realistically drawn. They have exaggerated features. As a result, even though the film presents overwhelming amounts of tragedy and events, that are very realistic, the audience can better accept or invest in these emotions because the characters are not “real” people and they live in this animated world that is distant from our own. In Susan J. Napier’s article, she mentions that the “animation’s simplified representation allow[s] for easier identification on the part of the viewer” (167). Even though the story is based on writer Nosaka Akiyuki’s real life, the characters in the story are not based on or look like real life people. Seiki and Setsuko have such basic features that they can basically represent any Japanese child. It gives the film a universal quality, where people can easily identify with the siblings rather than trying to connect with a personalized account.

Napier also points out how the “graphics of manga or anime can help “convey the unconveyable” of the bomb’s horror (166). This comes back to the idea of genre expectations and the viewer already accepting the limitedness or exaggerated nature of the animated world. When Seiki and Setsuko observe the landscape of Kobe and see how everything is destroyed, the viewer does not question this visual representation. It’s not that animation is better at accurately capturing the truth but it’s that we are less inclined to critique it. It’s difficult to say that an anime film is dramatizing, or is unrealistically representing something, because animation is not a form that traditionally tries to be realistic. For example, when Seiki sees his mother completely wrapped up in bandages and bleeding from underneath, the image is very exaggerated. However, the audience does not roll their eyes at this dramatic image because it does not seem dramatized within an anime context. The viewer can then remain focused on the emotions of the scenes without being fazed by the overstated image. Another way in which anime works better in conveying the horrors of war is that it’s simply easier to draw the destroyed landscape or injured civilians, than to do it with real sets and actors. Even with CGI and advanced technology, the live-action film then risks being too contrived through its highly artificial approach in representing such sensitive and serious subjects. Special effects with computers or rigs, then becomes more unrealistic or in “bad taste,” as Napier would say, than the usage of manga or anime.

Takahata’s Grave of the Fireflies is certainly one of the saddest films I have ever seen. The fact that it is in animation does not cross your mind since you become so invested in the lives of these two children. However, after watching the film you begin to realize that the reason you were able to get so invested in the pure emotion of the story, is that the animation is able to distance the viewer enough so they don’t get distracted by issues of inaccurate or unrealistic representation.

Works Cited

Napier, Susan J. Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation. New York: Palgrave, 2001. Web. 29 Oct. 2010.

Categories
anime anti-war

“Howl’s Moving Castle”: Love Makes People Brave.

Howl’s Moving Castle (Japanese title: Hauru no ugoku shiro), released in Japan in 2004 and in the United States in 2005, was directed and written by Miyazaki Hayao. It is an adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones’ novel, “Howl’s moving castle.” The genre is anime, literary adaptation, and drama. There are no actors, and there is only seiyū because this is a colour anime. The seiyū is a voice performer in Japanese. The seiyū of the main male character, Howl, is Kimura Takuya, whose main employment is as a member of SMAP, a Japanese idol group. Baishō Chieko, a Japanese actress and singer, voices the main female character, Sophie Grandma.

The setting of the movie is a magical European world with many wizards and witches in different countries. Sophie, a nineteen-year-old girl, does not have confidence or know what she really wants to do, so she runs a hat shop which her dead father left. In the beginning, Sophie is on her way to see her half sister, Lettie, when she is accosted by two soldiers before she arrives. At this time, she is saved from this embarrassment by a handsome blond man who has powerful magic; however, at the same time, the man is pursued by shadows. The man quickly brings Sophie to her destination by walking on air so that the shadows could not pursue her. Sophie seems to be falling in love with the man because he heroically saved her. When Sophie goes back to her hat shop, the Witch of the Waste, who controls shadows to catch the handsome blond man, comes in Sophie’s shop to conjure a charm to make Sophie become a ninety-year-old woman. After initial panic at first, Sophie calms down and leaves her hometown. On her way, she meets a friend, a scarecrow who was also conjured by someone. Scarecrow brings Sophie to Howl’s moving castle to rest. There Sophie meets the demon, Calcifer, who makes Howl’s castle move. Calcifer asks her to untie the contract between Howl and him because he wants to be free, but Sophie has to find the key thing to untie the contract. When Howl comes home, Sophie finds that he was the man who saved her before. Sophie tells him that she is a new sweeper for this castle, so Howl allows her to stay without asking anything.

One day, Howl gets mad when he thinks that the world will end soon just because he cannot dye his hair the colour he wanted. Sophie also gets mad because she thinks she can never be beautiful, but Howl is still great-looking even with the wrong hair colour. She thinks Howl is self-centered and wayward. After Howl calms down, he tells Sophie that he is really not the mature man of his gorgeous appearance, but is actually timid like a child. He does not like war, so he asks Sophie to act as his mother and see his teacher, Madame Suliman, to refuse attending the war for him. Getting along increasingly with each other, Howl and Sophie become attracted to each other. Howl soon decides to join the war because now he has important people to protect. Gradually, Sophie’s appearance becomes younger and younger since her thoughts become youthful and confident after she falls in love with Howl.

Although this is an anime movie, Miyazaki still clearly shows each character’s personality through their clothing, the way they talk, and their behaviour. For example, in the beginning, Sophie lacks confidence, wearing only plain clothing and avoiding eye contact when she talks to people. However, after she becomes confident, she wears a beautiful dress and looks steadily at others when she talks to them. Howl, at first, only focuses on his appearance, so he always wears beautiful clothing and dyes his hair. At the end, he finds there are more important things than his outward appearance, so he wears simple clothing and no longer dyes his hair.

The point here is that people can become confident and brave enough to do anything once they love somebody whom they want to protect and cherish. The change of Howl’s attitude to the war from evading to facing is a prime example. In addition, Sophie gains her confidence from loving Howl and becomes brave enough to do anything for him. She does not want Howl to use too much magic to become a full monster, so she did something which may bring her danger by calling Howl back from the war.

All background music and songs were composed by Joe Hisaishi, who has collaborated with Miyazaki for more than twenty-five years. The soundtrack makes each scene more realistic with some important messages. For example, when Howl held Calcifer to conjure, the soundtrack is a realistic heartbeat; some viewers can guess that the key thing to untie the contract may be Howl’s heart. In addition, the ending song, “The Merry-go-round of Life,” is impressive because it is pretty lively yet peaceful and shows that Howl and Sophie must have a bright future. The song is used in the opening, too; however, the intent of the song here is to show Sophie’s hometown is a lively and relaxed place.

In addition, Miyazaki also used 3D techniques to make the moving castle look realistic and painted some pictures by hand, so some scenes are pretty three-dimensional like real scenery.

This is one of my favourite Miyazaki movies because it is the only one in which the central message is love. Although some may think this is just anime, there are many important messages. For example, that love can make people become brave and confident, and that war is bad because it causes suffering. Therefore, I think this film is ideal for older teenagers and adults. In addition, I suggest watching this movie twice in order to gain clear messages from it because although it is based on the novel; many original scenes are cut, so for the audience who do not read the novel before, they may still not easily comprehend the points from a single viewing.

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anti-war gendai-geki literary adaptations shomin-geki

Forever Victims of the Atomic Bomb

Imamura Shōhei’s Black Rain or in Japanese Kuroi ame was based on Ibuse Masuji’s novel Black Rain and released in 1989; the genre is war. His cast members include Tanaka Yoshiko playing Yasuko, Kitamura Kazuo playing Shigematsu – Yasuko’s uncle, and Ichihara Etsuko playing Aunt Shigeko. The film is based on the Hiroshima nuclear bombing of 1945, its impact on the Japanese people, and their recovery process. The nation is never the same again after the horrific bombing and its toll on the people of Hiroshima is highlighted with utmost realism in the black and white movie.

The film starts by showing us Yasuko, a young college graduate being evacuated out of Hiroshima. She rides on the back of a neighbour’s truck to ship her, her uncle, and her aunt’s belonging out of Hiroshima. The morning seems to be peaceful, quiet, with crabs on the beautiful glistening stream creating a contrast before the horrific nuclear bombing. After the bomb is dropped we get a picture of the big luminous mushroom cloud rising and dropping its black ashes on the people of Hiroshima; the lighting in the film darkens as Yasuko re-enters Hiroshima to find her uncle. As the black rain caused by the nuclear bomb begin to drop on Yasuko we get a close-up of her lost and fearful expression as the rain begins to discolour her face; her expression outlines the feeling of all Hiroshima citizens. When Yasuko, Uncle Shigematsu, and Aunt Shigeko cross the city to take refuge at Shigematsu’s workplace, they as well as the viewers witness the suffering of Hiroshima citizens. The suffering is intensified when a child called Kyuzo walks up to his brother and his brother cannot even recognize him due to his terribly melting skin hanging from his body; the chaos further increases when we see a close-up shot of a woman cradling her dead baby with a lifeless insane look increasing the agony. Moreover the film shows people being buried alive or running around half-dead crying out for help.

After the horrific vivid scenes from the day of the atomic bombing the scene quickly jumps to the aftermath where Yasuko and her uncle walk out of the doctor’s office with her health certificate. After the bomb people start to realize that even indirect exposure to radiation makes people sick as well. Incorrect rumours start formulating and one of them is that radiation sickness could be contagious. Yasuko has trouble finding a husband due to this fear of radiation sickness. The film also shows other survivors being subjected to discrimination and seen as either dangerous for contaminating others, or lazy because they are not working due to radiation sickness. Yuichi, one of Yasuko’s neighbours, goes delirious whenever an automobile passes because he thinks it is an enemy tank. Like the crazy Yuichi who fought in the war and has gone crazy, the victims of the A-bomb are forever entrapped by it. Practically everyone in the film is damaged by the war and one by one the victims die or continue to suffer from fear of death. The film later shows us three A-bomb victims fishing due to their radiation sickness. A woman passes by and ridicules them for being lazy saying they are “happy-go-lucky people”. She represents all other Japanese people who want to and can move on losing sympathy for these A-bomb victims who remind them of the war. Everyone forgets the “hell of fire,” forgetting its victims and their ongoing pain.

Yasuko’s uncle Shigematsu takes to copying Yasuko and his wartime diary after the doctor’s health certificate fails to get Yasuko a marriage for the third time. He takes to copying these diaries to explain that Yasuko was not in Hiroshima when the bombing happened. The difficulty of finding Yasuko a husband occurs throughout the film. Yasuko highlights the desperation of the A-bomb victims and their entrapment by the war. The bomb has taken life, joy, and personality away from Yasuko and all its victims; they are confined to certain activities and for Yasuko she cannot even find anyone willing to marry her. All the victims can think about is how the disease will eventually get the best of them. They are a “community bound by the bomb” and in the end Yasuko even refuses her suitor because she thinks she is not good enough for anyone. As Shigematsu engages in the copying the diaries the film jumps back to August 6th, the day of the bombing. Everything is ablaze, cries for help everywhere, and the lighting gets dark again. As Yasuko, her uncle, and her aunt crosses a stream, burned corpses with their facial features un-recognizable floats pass them adding to the horror. One father could not even save his son leaving him burning in the fire to save himself; as he runs away the son yells for help continuously. We get another flashback as the villagers are performing a funeral service for a soldier from Takafuta. The present mixed with flashbacks reflects the fact that these victims cannot escape; unlike the vanished Hiroshima they have to live with the symptoms and the ongoing fear of sickness forever. The A-bomb victims are dying like “guinea pigs” and the ones that survived are trapped forever not knowing when the radiation sickness will hit them; they cannot work or engage in tiring activities and worst of all are discriminated by fellow countrymen. One by one the A-bomb victims in the village dies luring Yasuko into a growing fear that she may be next.

Black Rain is a movie successful in portraying a nation destroyed by war and the magnitude of the effect of the inhumane atomic bomb. The many grotesque and shocking images of corpse and burned victims in the city of Hiroshima deliver a clear anti-war sentiment reminding viewers the horror of the war itself. The Americans inflicted a lot of pain on the Japanese people of Hiroshima however the Japanese people who were not affected by the bomb discriminated against their own people inflicting mental pain as well. The film criticizes the war and outlines the fact that it brings out the worse in human beings. The country like its A-bomb victims will never be the same again. The film makes it easy for the viewer to identify and feel for the people affected by the A-bomb; repulsed not only by the gruesome image of victims but the war itself. The film depicts the horror and suffering of people when the bomb dropped on Hiroshima and their inescapable agony in realistic way; their suffering so realistically depicted with the many incidents shown during the bombing and after the viewer can feel magnitude piercing through them as well. The film shows vivid images and cries of the dying victims imprinting the cruelty of war into the viewers’ minds. The film provides specific stories of different people and how they are getting affected during the aftermath. It shows individual perspectives and does not group everyone’s suffering into one making it easier to sympathize with the victims. After hearing the news about dropping A-bomb on Korea, Uncle Shigematsu expresses the message of the film; humans just strangle themselves and cannot learn. He says this while the room is only filled with two old people – him and his mother, intensifying the hopelessness for the people of Hiroshima. The final scene contains the only close-up of uncle Shigematsu showing his face filled with sadness as he prays for the health of Yasuko; the sorrow of the Hiroshima victims is reflected in his helpless painful expression. The world after the bomb fell is even more colourless, just like the darkening of the lighting in the already black and white film.

Categories
action anime anti-war literary adaptations

“Akira”: A Review

Akira is a beautifully composed and philosophically rich anime film written and directed by Otomo Katsuhiro in 1988, based on his hit manga series of the same name. Set in a futuristic “Neo-Tokyo” in 2019 that is recovering from an apocalyptic “World War Three”, the film centers on the characters of Kaneda (voiced by Iwata Mitsuo) and his close friend Tetsuo (Sasaki Nozomu), who are members of a tough adolescent biker gang. During a violent encounter with a rival gang, Tetsuo stumbles across a disfigured child who has escaped from the confines of a government testing facility. The Japanese military, in hot pursuit of the young escapee, interrupts the gang battle and takes the child back into their custody. Heavily injured, Tetsuo is also taken to be rehabilitated, and soon undergoes extreme experimentation under the orders of Colonel Shikishima (Ishida Taro) after discovering Tetsuo’s unique, super-human mental frequencies.

Kaneda takes off on a quest to find Tetsuo, where he joins a group of revolutionaries and falls in love with a young rebel named Kei (Koyama Mami). Upon finding the military base where Tetsuo is being held, Kaneda and the rebels witness the government experiments as they go horribly wrong, causing Tetsuo to gain extremely unstable telekinetic abilities. Here Tetsuo transforms from a friendly member of the bike gang into a ruthless, psychopathic super-villain. Tetsuo’s obsession with his newfound power corrupts his personality, and he sets off on a mad rampage, threatening anyone around him, including Kaneda. The lifelong friendship between the two reaches a breaking point as Kaneda reluctantly chooses to protect Neo-Tokyo and the rest of humanity from his destructive friend. An epic battle ensues between the two, and the end result leaves the viewer in complete visual and thematic awe. Issues of government versus the people, corruption versus morality, power versus love, and even the origin of the universe tangle together in a heart-wrenching conclusion, where only one of the two friends can be left standing.

This work of anime is of particular interest because of its cultural relevance to the real-life, post-war psyche in Japanese society during the 1950’s. For instance, Akira reveals societal fears that one could more readily expect from films closer to the conclusion of World War Two, such as Gojira’s (Honda, 1954) undertones of war and atomic destruction. The fact that Akira was made more than 40 years after World War Two and still conveys fears of the threat of wartime bombing clearly shows the longevity of such an entrenched concern in Japanese culture. Further, the morbid, apocalyptic imagery at the hands of Tetsuo’s wrath is strikingly similar to the historical images of destruction from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Indeed, it can be argued that Akira’s opening images of a massive explosion directly reflect the outcome of World War Two. Thus, there is ample evidence in Akira that speaks to Japan’s unique history and reveals the nation’s most intimate cultural fears.

Perhaps the most important element of Akira’s cultural relevance is how it reflects the post-war Japanese desire to reconstruct a new identity on their own terms, liberated from the restrictions of the American occupation government and rising from the ashes of wartime devastation. Certainly, Akira’s Neo-Tokyo is on the brink of falling apart, and Tetsuo’s rampage opens a window of change and opportunity where the citizens begin to question the ills of their society and government. One quote from a government test-subject in the film sums up the post-war Japanese mindset perfectly: “There ought to be a future we can choose, and it is up to us to find it”.

As an anime film, Akira’s magnificent visual backgrounds deserve mention. The majority of the film is set in Neo-Tokyo’s inner-city, and Otomo creates a glamorized, yet representative portrayal of Tokyo’s dense metropolitan atmosphere. City scenes are dominated by the bright, never-ending sea of lights from apartments and skyscrapers that loom ominously in the background of nearly every shot as Kaneda’s bike gang weaves their way through Neo-Tokyo’s never ending streets. These metropolitan backdrops are so imposing that the viewer does not see a single speck of the night sky, visually reinforcing the inescapability of the bikers’ dangerous lifestyle and the complete corruption of Tetsuo’s personality due to his newfound powers. In addition, these backgrounds greatly heighten the film’s aesthetic value: it is almost as if we are viewing a piece of art rather than a film. Indeed, this is what one desires from a filmic adaptation of such a vibrant Japanese manga series, and in this respect Akira does not disappoint.

The true mastery of Akira’s backdrops are revealed when we reach the climax of the film, as we escape from the claustrophobic cityscapes into the vast expanse of blue sky depicted over the final battle between Kaneda and Tetsuo. Here the artistic choice to dominate the frame with a natural, wide-open sky serves a deep purpose; it foreshadows and symbolizes Neo-Tokyo’s potential liberation from Tetsuo’s destruction.

Overall, Akira deals with numerous themes of power and corruption, post-war Japanese politics, love, honor, destiny, and even the elusive search for the origin of the universe. For some, the film may try to include too much thematic meaning or address excessive cultural and philosophical questions that could overwhelm the viewer. Certainly, it is nearly impossible to wrap one’s mind around the scope of the film and its profound moral, cultural, and metaphysical avenues by viewing Akira just once. However, from an artistic standpoint I highly recommend this film, as it lends its magic through magnificent aesthetic detail in every scene, as well as its awe-inspiring use of backdrops which “set the stage” perfectly. One must view this film with respect for its artistic creativity, where Otomo’s attention to detail is invaluable, regardless of minor issues in conveying clear and concise themes. For a younger audience, some discretion is advised, as the film contains a brief moment of nudity and excessive violence and gore. However, in accordance with the rest of the film, these instances are so dramatically depicted that they themselves mesh harmlessly into the gorgeous visual spectacle that is Akira.

Categories
action anti-war gendai-geki Kaijû

“Gojira”

The original Gojira (English title: Godzilla), released in 1954, was directed and written by Honda Ishirô. The concept of a dinosaur-type creature terrorizing the coast of Tokyo came into fruition when producer Tanaka Tomoyuki read of the Lucky Dragon 5 incident and was inspired by an American film of similar concept, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. Leading the cast of Gojira is actor Shimura Takashi (Rashomon (1950) and Seven Samurai (1954)), who plays Dr. Yamane Kyouhei; other notable actors includeTakarada Akira, Hirata Akihiko, and famous “suit actor” Nakajima Haruo. Due to critical and financial success, Gojira has spawned many sequels in Japan and remakes in the United States.

The film begins with normative opening credits, but viewers are presented with terrifying roars and subsequent thundering orchestra sounds that initiate fear and suspense. Since Gojira was a ground breaking film at the time, the opening credits would have surely frightened a few! In the opening, we are presented with a scene in which an assembly of navy men aboard a ship near Odo Island are terrified of an unknown force. The ships alongside the men, are shown decimated – which then makes headline news and causes public uproar in Japan. What could cause such a drastic challenge to national security? Reporters hear of this incident and are soon flown in to Odo Island. Dr. Yamane suggests sending investigators to the island. He finds large radioactive footprints, and consequently presents them in a public inquiry. Army ships are deployed, but they succumb to Gojira’s violence. One of Dr. Yamane’s colleagues, Dr. Serizawa (played by actor Hirata Akihiko), invents an “oxygen destroyer” that has the dangerous ability to abolish all sea life-forms – and thus Gojira. After Gojira appears again to attack a coastal city, the Japanese Army decides to create an electric fence to stop Gojira. However, it is futile as Gojira is able to withstand the fence and the army’s gunfire – which give way under his continued rampage.

The most remarkable aspect of the film is the psychological creation of fear. In the opening credits, the type of movie and creature we’ll face is alluded to – an unknown shrieking, wrathful voice angrily roars. In the following scene we are given an image of several ships full of sailors being frightened by something unseen. Since all the ships are destroyed in unison, it gives a feeling that this unknown creature is capable of mass destruction. All in all, the noted scene being around just two minutes quickly elevates the idea of fear, since our greatest qualitative fear is of what we can’t see and what we don’t know. Having the horrific incident making headline news causes a concern for not only Japan as a nation, but its entire people as well. The most horrendous scene in Gojira follows soon afterwards. The Japanese natives’ spiritual ceremony obviously unsuccessful, we are soon shown an image of a destructive storm against a coastal city. The lack of success from the native ceremony possibly hints to how old Japanese traditions may not work in the new age of science. As the scene continues, we are given a shot of a just-woken-family-of-three (asleep is when people are most prone and helpless), in a house that will soon collapse. We see the teenage brother quickly run out; we see nothing but his voice screaming and his distressed older brother and sister-in-law powerless to help. At this point, we still have yet to understand what the physical appearance of Gojira is like; what we can acknowledge is that some unknown force is capable of significant mayhem – having destroyed fleet of ships, cities, and families. Imagining such scenes would truly give one a frightening nightmare!

The editing and camerawork bind the film together. The editing is excellent at utilizing psychological suspense. In the beginning of the movie, we are only shown about two minutes each of Gojira’s wrath. The subsequent scene lengths are exponential to Gojira’s; this creates a sort of suspense and nervousness, as the scenes depict an investigation, a discussion, and a creation of a weapon to use against Gojira. The act of anticipation that this editing provides provokes a prolonged anxiousness and suspense. Also important is how the camerawork transcends the images of the movie. In one scene where Gojira break through the electrical fences and begins destroying Tokyo, we are quickly given multiple shots of the empty city streets. The director pans to a scared mother and daughter for a few seconds, and immediately after shows scenes of Gojira destroying the city. By doing this, viewers are able to see that Gojira is a great enough force to empty cities. However, with the addition of the mother and child, we relate to the scene with pity and fear for humanity’s sake. To put more salt on the wound: after just watching Gojira destroy the city for a few minutes, we are shown again the mother and daughter via a long shot that reveals their scared body language, and then a close-up to see their dramatically frightened facial expressions; the child now says she is scared! The director’s focus on the two promotes the scene to become tragically personal. This is an example of very thoughtful camerawork, where every shot has great significance and emphasis to the story.

Honda Ishirô’s Gojira paved the way for many kaijû (giant monster) films in Japan. Yes, the film is violent, and the strings are visible and corny- but one should not debase  it on such aspects. Gojira’s success is due to its cerebralness. The mental scenes/images (or sometimes lack of), combined with the realistic humanism of its human characters, is what establishes Gojira as a cinematic and modern-cultural classic.

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anti-war literary adaptations post-war

“Fires on the Plain”

Fires on the Plain was released in 1959, directed by Ichikawa Kon, and based on Ōka Shohei’s novel Nobi. The leading male actor is Funakoshi Eiji and there is no leading female actor in this movie because it is a Second World War II story through the eye of the leading male actor. The original movie is 106 minutes long in black and white yet there is no remade version of it.

The movie is about the personal experience of a Japanese soldier, Tamura, who is expelled from his squad because there is not enough food for everyone and his leader tells him to stay in the hospital for a longer period. On the way to the hospital, he sees smokes for a few times and he runs away instantly because he is afraid it is a signal for the American army to attack the place. When he arrives at the hospital, the commander asks him to leave since he only took people who were about to die. The Japanese soldiers can go nowhere except Palompon where they will be evacuated. At the same time, the American army keeps firing at them. Everyone is hungry and tired so they eat whatever they could find and sleep anywhere on the way to Palompon. They keep walking and a lot of them either fall down or are dead. Tamura finally meets his friends, but they practise cannibalism which is a human being eating another human being’s flesh. Therefore, Tamura kills them and runs to the field where there was smoke.

One theme of the movie is humanity which is the act of being kind to others. The soldiers who were abandoned and left behind in the Philippines are hungry and they have insufficient weapons to fight against their enemies. However, the Emperor’s allies do not send more troops to help them. In other words, they can only fight to the death since it is merely impossible to make it to Palompon. Firstly, there are airplanes, tanks and vehicles moving around the city to look for the Japanese soldiers so they have no way to escape. Secondly, they do not have enough food to maintain their daily needs; they will die of hunger in the end. Thirdly, the Filipinos will kill them if they see the Japanese soldiers. As a result, the soldiers can not hide anywhere. Perhaps there were many difficulties in the Japan mainland so he could not help his citizens abroad. However, the government puts its people in danger (started the war) first, it should evacuate as many soldiers back to Japan as possible. Another main aspect of humanity is cannibalism. Tamura’s comrades kill other living humans for food and they refer to those to “monkeys”. When one person faces the problems of insufficient food, what should he choose to keep him alive? Tamura eats grass and leeches so he has no energy. His comrades eat flesh because either they die, or others do. So they choose to sacrifice others. Near the end of the movie, there is a Buddhist follower who eats mud as food and he said “I can’t make the forest.” I believe forest here means lives. There are many species, fruits and trees in the forest that humans can make use of. Once the forest is destroyed, myriads of lives end.

The main character Tamura’s personality gradually changes throughout the movie. He treats every life as valuable even Filipinos. When he saw the Filipino girl who screams when she sees him, he is trying to drop his gun but he kills her since the girl cannot stop screaming. It seems that others will notice his existence so he has to shoot at her to close her mouth. When she is dead, he fixes her clothing and makes her look neat. From this action, I can tell that he feels sorry to her. At the beginning, he hides whenever he sees the smoke from a field. After he knows the reason that farmers burned the field, he runs to the field although the probability of keeping himself safe is low.  “I know it is dangerous, but I want to see people who are leading a normal life”. Tamura is scared of death; he tries his best to get to the evacuation area. However, he is brave to run to the smoke field because he wants to live as a normal human being. He does not want to be someone who eats human flesh. He does not eat any of the dead bodies he saw on the way to Palompon. All the things he does show that he wants to live as a normal person in a peaceful society. He is not afraid of death but he is aiming for a normal life.

I like this film a lot as it changes some of my old views toward Japanese of the WWII period. I am Chinese; I learned that Japanese invaded many countries. I still remember there are many documents about how cruel the Japanese treated Chinese men, women and even children. As a reason, I thought Japanese soldiers were all cold-blooded. However, I see that Tamura has no real intention to kill anybody in the film and he disagrees with cannibalism no matter how hungry he is. From my perspective, maybe it was just the government’s decision to invade other countries yet many of the Japanese soldiers had to follow the central orders. So I do not think they are as bad as I thought. Thus I will recommend this movie to people who dislike the Japanese; it will change your perceptions.

Categories
anti-war drama, melodrama post-war

The Value of Lives Through Twenty-Four Eyes of Innocent Children

Kinoshita Keisuke’s Twenty-four Eyes (Nijyū yon no hitomi, 1954) is one of the most famous Japanese post-war classics alongside of Seven Samurai (Shichinin no samurai), directed by Kurosawa Akira. It was released in 1954 and won a Golden Glove Award in the foreign film category. This film was based on the novel “Twenty-four Eyes” written by Tsuboi Sakae and later remade into colour film in 1987 and then into a famous TV series in 2005. In this movie, Kinoshita inserts historical perspectives by depicting twenty years of devastating Japanese history, beginning in 1928 and continuing through post WWII. Kinoshita portrays this film as an anti- war drama, focusing on the actions and the interactions between the main characters, Ōishi Hisako and twelve school pupils (the twenty-four eyes), during turbulent years in Japan. The movie is portrayed alongside beautiful unchanged scenery of the Setonai Ocean while many nostalgic melodies are repeated over and over throughout the film. These nostalgic melodies with their changing styles and tempos help accentuate Kinoshita’s theme of pacifism.

The story primarily focuses on the interactions between teacher Ōishi Hisako (Takamie Hideko) and her twelve pupils and the community, as well as the struggles they face during two turbulent decades in Japan. The story begins with the arrival of a new teacher at a typical village school in a rural sea island called Shodoshima. The female teacher (Onago Sensei) first appears on the scene by riding a brand-new bike with western clothes on. At this time bikes were thought to be the high-class vehicles for men, so the modern look of this female teacher shocks the peasants in the remote community. Soon after her arrival, Mrs. Ōishi becomes the centre of gossip by villagers and arouses peasants’ antipathy due to her modern look and her unorthodox style of teaching. After Mrs. Ōishi becomes a teacher of the twelve first graders, she gets severely injured by her pupils’ prank, which eventually leads her to quit her village school. After Mrs. Ōishi had been gone for a long time, the twelve children decide to meet her since they regret what they have done and start to long for Mrs. Ōishi. It is at this point the community understands the true value of Mrs. Ōishi and see the children’s love toward her, which leads to reconciliation and acceptance of her into the community. Five years after this incident and the quitting of the village school, Mrs. Ōishi again gains a chance to teach, now adolescent pupils. However, around this time censorship was tightened and patristic militaristic ethos were being spread, so she is labelled a communist and decides to quite teaching. Again, time passes; Mrs. Ōishi and twelve children grow older and get intertwined in a devastating period, going through various hardships surrounded by economic depression, poverty and war. By the end of the movie, the children grow up to have their own kids and realize the happiness of peace as well as the sadness of loved ones who died in war and poverty.

Through the strongly held attitude and actions of Mrs. Ōishi and the dialogue held between Mrs. Ōishi and her pupils, Kinoshita enables the audience to grasp the theme, which emphasizes pacifism. Kinoshita inserts pro-peace and anti-war views by showing Mrs. Ōishi’s response toward the “Red Incident”. Despite the fact Mr. Kataoka, one of the teachers at Mrs. Ōishi’s school, gets arrested for writing an anti-war “Red” essay, Mrs. Ōishi still holds firm to her anti-war ideology. Regardless of the risk of getting arrested, she reads aloud Mr. Kataoka’s “Red” essay in class, and teaches children the importance of being alive. She goes as far as leaving her job as a teacher when the militaristic government restricts teachers to only teach patriarchal pro-war materials. Also, the simple dialogues and conversations between Mrs. Ōishi and her pupils help accentuate the stupidity of war. As the hue of anti war gets stronger, Mrs. Ōishi’s pupils become inspired to become soldiers and fight for the sake of the Empire of Japan. Mrs. Ōishi feels a deep sorrow upon hearing her students say being a soldier is their future dream. Instead of praising and being proud of their sacrifice for the nation and its people, she tells them that it is foolish to die for the nonsense of war. She also says she prefers to see them alive than to see them becoming a nation’s dead “hero”. In addition to Mrs. Ōishi’s pacifistic actions and attitudes, her joy at the termination of war directly brings the message of anti-war with the importance of peace. After hearing the emperor proclaiming the end of the war on the radio, she expresses joy by telling people that it is great not to see families and children suffer and die in war anymore while having a bittersweet feeling toward those who died. This happiness is in contrast to the sorrow of Japan’s loss in the war. This contradiction of joy and sorrow dramatises the idea of pacifism.

Kinoshita’s distinct choices and uses of music play into the sorrow of death, thus underlining the theme. Kinoshita employs various folktale songs and frequently changes the choice of songs and tempo depending on the emotions and perspective carried in the film. One of the conspicuous examples is the melody used during social changes. Since Shodoshima is a tiny remote island in Japan, the town itself did not receive much damage during the war as it is indicated by the unchanged beautiful scenery of the ocean and mountains. As well, the lives of peasants in Shodoshima remain unchanged during the Manchurian invasion except for the song choice played in the background. Here, Kinoshita inserts a sadder and slower song in comparison to other classics used earlier in the film, illustrating the grief and sadness directed toward the people who died in battle.

Kinoshita did an excellent job telling the horror of war and conveying the message of peace by depicting innocent children dying from war alongside melancholic music played in the film.

I think this film gives a misleading impression that Japan is a victim, not a perpetrator of war. By sentimentally depicting naïve and innocent children, who are passively forced to be involved in wars while omitting detailed information about the pupil’s willingness to fight for the war, Kinoshita fails to insert Japan’s factual position as a perpetrator in the war. As a result, the audience may get the mistaken impression that Japan was a victim of war. With basic knowledge about the background of the Pacific War, Twenty-four Eyes is enjoyable and educational for those who are interested in Japanese life during turbulent years as well as those who enjoy classical cinema.

Categories
anti-war drama, melodrama

“The Idiot”

“The Idiot” was released in Japan under the name “Hakuchi” in 1951, directed by Kurosawa Akira and later released in the United States in 1963. This drama film was based on the storyline by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky depicting the aftermath of World War II exploring the themes of money, relationships, friendships, and society. The main characters of Nasu Taeko, Kameda Kinji, and Akama Denkichi are played by Hara Setsuko, Mori Masayuki, and Mifune Toshiro, repectively. The two female characters are both attracted by the main male character, who has become an idiot after experiencing psychological trauma during the war,

After being released from a mental hospital in Okinawa, Kameda boards a train headed to his hometown of Hokkaido. On board the train, Kameda has a nightmare bringing back wartime memories of close to death situations. He lets out a horrible shriek waking up all those aboard the train. This incident on the train leads to Kameda befriending Akama, son of a wealthy family who takes an instant liking to him. After they arrive in Hokkaido, the majority of the people look down on Kameda because he is an idiot, but gradually change their minds after they find out he is kindhearted and not one to hold grudges against others who have mistreated him. As the story unfolds, Taeko is introduced as a woman who seems to “sell” herself to any man who can “bid” the highest amount of money. Akama successfully challenges Kayama to become the highest “bidder.” However, he soon finds out that he will never have her heart for she has fallen in love with Kameda. Akama is then torn between friendship and love.

What struck me the most about this film was Kurosawa’s camerawork. He uses steady shots with minimal zooming to focus on the characters throughout the length of their conversations and occasionally scanning the set to emphasis the setting. In the beginning of the movie, Kurosawa scans the length of the train to illustrate the atmosphere and the number of people Kameda has disturbed with his scream. The camera then stops and focuses on Kameda and Akama when they begin their conversation. In another scene, Kurosawa uses long shots to portray the lavish lifestyle Taeko enjoys at Kayama’s residence, showing the exquisite furnishings and the luxuries that are available to her. The long shots also emphasize the spaciousness of the house and the number of guests it can accommodate.

Another aspect of the film I really enjoyed was the selection of music and special sound effects used to accompany the storyline. It adds as well as giving emphasis to the atmosphere of the situation bringing out the emotions that the characters are experiencing.  One scene where this is demonstrated is when Kameda, Ayako, Mrs Ono, and Kayama were outside by the pond where a number of masked people were skating. At first, the music makes the mood mysterious and suspenseful. The atmosphere becomes more lighthearted and cheerful when the music changes into a more cheerful tone. Moreover, in the closing scenes of the film, the music playing in the background suggests what might have happened by defining the mood with sorrowful music. This helps the audience understand despite a vague ending.

This film gave me an insight on what how the war might have affected people, creating long term psychological problems. While the storyline was somewhat interesting, I found the film too slow-paced for my liking. The slow flow of the film left me impatient but allowed me sufficient time to read the English captions. Overall, I would recommend “The Idiot” to viewers interested in post-war Japanese cinema.

Categories
anti-war drama, melodrama

“The Idiot”

Kurosawa Akira’s very well-made movie The Idiot (Hakuchi, 1951), seems to show a genre of drama. Kurosawa seems be focusing on the aftereffects of war. Even though this movie was made after a period of time after the war, Kurosawa seeks to attempt to prove that the aftereffects of war can terrorize people through many years and affect them thoroughly in their lives.

The story begins with the main character Mr. Kameda screaming and waking up from his terrible nightmare of getting shot. He shares his nightmare experience with the person beside him whom is Mr. Akama and then explains to Mr. Akama that he suffers from a disease called “dementia epilepsy”. At first it seems to be that Kurosawa is already hinting to the audience that the idiot is Mr. Kameda himself. However, as the movie goes on, we see that Mr. Kameda encounters two women and both of them fall in love with him. Mr. Akama on the other hand, is a very wealthy man and is in love with one of the woman named Taeko. It seems to be that he is trying to marry Taeko but another character Mr. Kayama is also trying to marry Taeko for money and powerful social status. However, both of them do not get any chances as Taeko falls in love with Mr. Kameda. As time goes on, it shows that he cannot gain the trust and love from the woman he loves and so tragic events happen to him and the woman. In the end, it seems to me that the idiot is not only Mr. Kameda himself but Mr. Akama too.

Throughout the whole movie, the setting is always snowing which gives the audiences a chilling and unpleasant atmosphere. Also, the main character Mr. Kameda seems to be very gentle and always speaking his polite form in Japanese. However, the other people look down to him and speak to him impolitely in Japanese just because they know he suffers from the disease and thinks of him as an idiot. Moreover, Kurosawa always seems to try and focus the camera on Mr. Kameda and show the audiences his expressions. Usually, Mr. Kameda shows an expression of politeness or sorrow which makes me think that Kurosawa is trying to make the audience feel sympathy for Mr. Kameda. Also, because that the audience already know that Mr. Kameda suffers from the disease which creates another feeling of sympathy for him. Also, I also think that Mr. Kameda and many of the characters’ acting are all very realistic for they all got my attention.

From this movie, I think that it’s rather interesting for me to watch because I think the plots in the movie are rather intriguing and detailed. I personally love to watch dramatic movies that show many conflicts between the characters. Also, in this movie there seems to be a three way triangular love which intensifies the movie even more. Furthermore, it also occurs to me that the movie may be interesting, but the movie itself is a little too long in my opinion and also sometimes the storyline is very confusing which is hard to understand. I would still recommend this movie to everyone because I think it’s rather important to learn about the aftereffects of the World War II  on people and also how the war affects their living style.

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