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nawlinsgurl
Joined: 01 May 2004
Posts: 363
Location: Kanagawa and feeling Ok....
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 Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 6:34 pm Post subject: By far the best movie of the year--off topic |
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This has nothing to do with teaching, but everything to do with Japan, sorry for being "off topic"!!
I don't know if anyone else has mentioned it--or seen it, by tonight I saw "Letters from Iwo Jima", and it was by far, it was the best movie of 2006. The only theater I know of it playing with English subtitles, is Toho Roppongi Hills, where it plays every night at 7:00 pm. I'm not big on "war movies" at all, but this one was really amazing. I'm left with some questions though...for anyone who can answer:
1. Was Saigo a real person?
2. Why can no one go to Iwa Jima now?
I did a little internet research on Iwo Jima, but it seems you have to have served in WWII or be a direct decendent of someone who did to go to Iwo Jima.
For those of you who have seen it.. What do you think of Clint Eastwood's direction of the story? |
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furiousmilksheikali
Joined: 31 Jul 2006
Posts: 1660
Location: In a coffee shop, splitting a 30,000 yen tab with Sekiguchi.
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| Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 6:42 pm Post subject: |
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Not seen the film, but I did try to watch "Yamato" recently and thought it was mawkish drivel. Apparently there will be a new film out written by Shintaro Ishihara (the xenophobic governor of Tokyo) called "I will die only for you" celebrating kamikaze pilots for their "wonderful" loyalty to the Emperor who didn't even have the decency to commit seppuku on losing World War Two.
By the way, I don't know who the Saigo that you wrote about is as I have not seen the film but he may be based on Saigo Takamori who is often regarded as the Last Samurai and the basis of Ken Watanabe's character.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saigo_Takamori
Last edited by furiousmilksheikali on Mon Jan 01, 2007 6:47 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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nawlinsgurl
Joined: 01 May 2004
Posts: 363
Location: Kanagawa and feeling Ok....
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| Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 6:47 pm Post subject: |
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Furiousmilk: Where do you live in Japan?
I haven't seen Yamato...does it have subtitles? |
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furiousmilksheikali
Joined: 31 Jul 2006
Posts: 1660
Location: In a coffee shop, splitting a 30,000 yen tab with Sekiguchi.
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| Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 6:50 pm Post subject: |
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| nawlinsgurl wrote: |
Furiousmilk: Where do you live in Japan?
I haven't seen Yamato...does it have subtitles? |
I live in Osaka. The edition of Yamato that I rented doesn't have subtitles. I was interested in watching Letters From Iwo Jima but I thought the girl I was with wouldn't want to watch a war film, so we watched James Bond instead  ! |
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User N. Ame
Joined: 11 Dec 2006
Posts: 222
Location: Kanto
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| Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 3:37 am Post subject: Re: By far the best movie of the year--off topic |
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| nawlinsgurl wrote: |
This has nothing to do with teaching, but everything to do with Japan, sorry for being "off topic"!!
I don't know if anyone else has mentioned it--or seen it, by tonight I saw "Letters from Iwo Jima", and it was by far, it was the best movie of 2006. |
I was a bit sceptical going in... (here we go again, I thought, another big movie about Japan from an American), but Clint Eastwood did a remarkable job here. I have to admit I saw this without English subtitles, and my Japanese isn't fluent by any stretch, but great films sometimes are able to transcend dialogue, and this one did, much in the same way I could watch those old Ozu films without English and still end up with a tear in my eye. Not only does this film transcend dialogue, but it transcends political propaganda and contrived sentimentalism, something rarely achieved in war movies.
Ken Watanabe deserves best actor consideration. And the screenplay, written by a virtual unknown, a Japanese-American gal who won a screenplay contest), wow! What a future this writer has. My Japanese friend who came to see this with me was in tears from about the mid-way point right thru to the end.
Not sure about your other questions, but I do believe this screenplay was drawn from actual letters found at Iwojima after the war. |
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nawlinsgurl
Joined: 01 May 2004
Posts: 363
Location: Kanagawa and feeling Ok....
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| Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 5:05 am Post subject: |
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I, too, was in tears halfway through. I think the actor for Saigo was awesome and of course Ken Watanabe, but he acts well in everything he does. I searched the internet but couldn't find info on if Saigo was real, of course everyone else was. And the actor who played Nishi was HOT!!!! Yummy...but don't tell my husband that  |
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Venti
Joined: 19 Oct 2006
Posts: 171
Location: Kanto, Japan
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| Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 6:46 pm Post subject: |
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"Letters From Iwo Jima" is a fantastic movie. It's gut-wrenching and gives Japanese and non-Japanese alike an idea of just how tough the Japanese actually could be and how painful it was to actually be Japanese at that time. It wasn't a movie with heroes and filled with heroic deeds. It was just a graphic account of how horrible war is and how integrity, and sometimes compassion, can be preserved even up to the end. Amazing job by Eastwood.
I agree with you about "Yamato", Ali. It was two hours or so of over-the-top sappiness with a couple of way-too-long battle scenes full of Japanese sailors getting blown to pieces and splattered all over the sides of the ship.
Not so sure about the comments concerning the Emperor, though.  |
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maya.the.bee
Joined: 23 Sep 2005
Posts: 118
Location: Stgo
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| Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 3:23 am Post subject: |
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| I haven't seen this movie yet, not sure it'd have English where I live. Did anyone see Flags of Our Fathers? It's strange that Eastwood made 2 movies on the same event at the same time. Which is better or are they both worth seeing? |
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Venti
Joined: 19 Oct 2006
Posts: 171
Location: Kanto, Japan
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| Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 3:30 am Post subject: |
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| maya.the.bee wrote: |
| I haven't seen this movie yet, not sure it'd have English where I live. Did anyone see Flags of Our Fathers? It's strange that Eastwood made 2 movies on the same event at the same time. Which is better or are they both worth seeing? |
They are both worth seeing. "Flags of Our Fathers" deals more with the aftermath of Iwo Jima while "Letters From Iwo Jima" deals mostly with the battle itself. Some events that take place in one movie, take place in the other and often both sides are seen. That was the point of making two movies. Not strange at all. |
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furiousmilksheikali
Joined: 31 Jul 2006
Posts: 1660
Location: In a coffee shop, splitting a 30,000 yen tab with Sekiguchi.
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| Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 7:42 am Post subject: |
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| Yeah, I wasn't completely serious about the comments regarding the emperor. It was more of a parody of the standard nationalist belief that the emperor disgraced the imperial throne by surrendering and then admitting he wasn't a god. I don't know what Ishihara's take on it will be but some of his comments in the past have suggested that he's something of a right wing nut who thought the "East Asian" War was glorious! Just the guy you want to make a movie about kamikaze pilots. |
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wolfman
Joined: 18 Jan 2006
Posts: 189
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| Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 2:27 pm Post subject: |
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| ali, those people in the black busses with the loudpeakers are gunna come for you for saying that. |
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Eva Pilot
Joined: 19 Mar 2006
Posts: 351
Location: Far West of the Far East
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| Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 4:29 am Post subject: |
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| furiousmilksheikali wrote: |
| Yeah, I wasn't completely serious about the comments regarding the emperor. It was more of a parody of the standard nationalist belief that the emperor disgraced the imperial throne by surrendering and then admitting he wasn't a god. I don't know what Ishihara's take on it will be but some of his comments in the past have suggested that he's something of a right wing nut who thought the "East Asian" War was glorious! Just the guy you want to make a movie about kamikaze pilots. |
The Emperor really had no control over what did actually go on during the years 1931-1945. He was the figurehead but not the controlling force behind the beginning or continuation of the entire Greater East Asian War. |
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Alberta605
Joined: 23 Dec 2006
Posts: 94
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 4:50 am Post subject: |
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Even further off topic - I hope everyone has seen Borat the Movie (documentary on the Kazhkistani TV peronality). Anyone from a culture who pays for shop breakages with pubic hair, keeps a bears head in a refrigerator and carries his excrement around in a small bag is surely the most unusal.
I would advise that his bathing costume should be looked at through your fingers. |
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furiousmilksheikali
Joined: 31 Jul 2006
Posts: 1660
Location: In a coffee shop, splitting a 30,000 yen tab with Sekiguchi.
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| Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 9:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Eva Pilot wrote: |
| furiousmilksheikali wrote: |
| Yeah, I wasn't completely serious about the comments regarding the emperor. It was more of a parody of the standard nationalist belief that the emperor disgraced the imperial throne by surrendering and then admitting he wasn't a god. I don't know what Ishihara's take on it will be but some of his comments in the past have suggested that he's something of a right wing nut who thought the "East Asian" War was glorious! Just the guy you want to make a movie about kamikaze pilots. |
The Emperor really had no control over what did actually go on during the years 1931-1945. He was the figurehead but not the controlling force behind the beginning or continuation of the entire Greater East Asian War. |
It's a nice idea. It doesn't hold any water though. That is exactly what the US occupation forces wanted people to believe. But who was it that made the final surrender? Why was it that his words had so much power?
The Emperor was a mere figurehead is a laughable belief! I will go into this in more detail if it is demanded. But for now I can't be bothered...
Just try me... |
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Eva Pilot
Joined: 19 Mar 2006
Posts: 351
Location: Far West of the Far East
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| Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 12:02 pm Post subject: |
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| furiousmilksheikali wrote: |
| Eva Pilot wrote: |
| furiousmilksheikali wrote: |
| Yeah, I wasn't completely serious about the comments regarding the emperor. It was more of a parody of the standard nationalist belief that the emperor disgraced the imperial throne by surrendering and then admitting he wasn't a god. I don't know what Ishihara's take on it will be but some of his comments in the past have suggested that he's something of a right wing nut who thought the "East Asian" War was glorious! Just the guy you want to make a movie about kamikaze pilots. |
The Emperor really had no control over what did actually go on during the years 1931-1945. He was the figurehead but not the controlling force behind the beginning or continuation of the entire Greater East Asian War. |
It's a nice idea. It doesn't hold any water though. That is exactly what the US occupation forces wanted people to believe. But who was it that made the final surrender? Why was it that his words had so much power?
The Emperor was a mere figurehead is a laughable belief! I will go into this in more detail if it is demanded. But for now I can't be bothered...
Just try me... |
I have come to this conclusion after reading books written by Japanese people not written specially for Americans or the west.
Japan were forced to surrender, not simply due to Atomic bombing, but the very fact that they had no resources left at their disposal. The only reason that Japanese forces had stretched so far through the Pacific was the intention of holding territory that had available resources vitally neccessary to maintain a war. The major theatre in the eyes of the select few Military leaders that were controlling the Diet, and the entire war effort at home and abroad was China, and a good majority of other imperialist expansion during the years 1931-1945 were to supply and cater for renewed efforts in Manchukuo and the mainland of China.
By the time the Pacific became the major theatre for war, all of those who formed the Japanese constitution in good faith had all died, and the military had stepped up drastically and moved into, taking control of, the Diet, beginning as early as the first years of the 1900s.
The fact that Japan had never successfully been invaded until the US took Okinawa sent major shockwaves through all Pro and Anti War High Officials. The fact that Japan, so stretched and understocked through the years of war on foreign soil now faced a full scale invasion, made even the most hardline imperialists realise that there was going to be massive casualties the likes of which their nation had never seen, and that the only option to save Japan from utter destruction was to surrender.
I am not, by any means, a professional scholar on this matter. But it is my strong and unwavering belief that the duration of the Greater East Asian War (for lack of a more correct term) was not the work simply of an Emperor commanding a nation, but the control of the few, the Militarist influence in the Diet, that was the driving force behind the entire conflict in China, Manchuria and then the entire Pacific theatre. |
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