A growing time period separates us from the terrible years of World War II, there are fewer and fewer living witnesses, memory decaying, blurring the line between fiction and truth. Now, to a significant degree, the attitude of the young generation to war is determined by cinema, and, unfortunately, while Hollywood is winning the minds of a young audience. Most of the films are devoted to the exploits of soldiers in the fields of Europe, but there are films about the war with Japan. Infinitely respecting and not at all belittling the feat of the Soviet people, one should pay tribute to the Allies by reviewing the most famous foreign paintings on military operations on the fronts of the Asia-Pacific region.
Passion for Pearl Harbor
Among the few American films about the war with Japan, Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor work stands out. Only the lazy project did not smash for excessive pathos, melodramatic, completely unrealistic ending. However, the film has a lot of obvious advantages, among which its effectiveness. Hollywood managed to turn the main disgrace of the US armed forces during World War II into a natural patriotic agitation. The filming process took place at a real existing and functioning naval base in Pearl Harbor. An expert Jack Green, a member of the Naval Historical Center, was involved in the creation of the tape. But despite this, the attention of the viewer is more attracted to large-scale battles and a love story unfolding against their background. Michael Bay was so carried away by the special effects and entertainment of his brainchild that his interpretation of the Japanese attack on the US base turned out to be very far from reality, historians prefer not to comment on the project. But the audience rejoices while watching.
Almost reconstruction
Another film about the war with Japan in 1945, having the extraordinary title “Torah! Torah! Torah!" (1970), is dedicated to a unique battle in which both warring parties failed. The Americans failed to defend their key Pacific base from the Japanese air attack, but they were also unable to destroy the latest enemy ships that were not in the bay, but subsequently aircraft carriers played a significant role in defeating the Land of the Rising Sun. A picture of a joint production of Japan and the United States tells the story of Pearl Harbor from both points of view, based on documentary chronicles, memoirs of veterans and related documents. The tandem of directors worked on the creation of the tape, including R. Flyisher, K. Fukasaku and T. Masouda.
New Isoboku Yamamoto Biography
Unlike other films about the war with Japan, the picture "Attack on Pearl Harbor" is positioned as a new biography of one of the main strategists of the Second World War Isoroku Yamamoto. The timing of the tape is 140 minutes, the narrative illustrates in detail the era of the late 1930s, when Japan, suffering from crisis and poverty, steadily moved to war. Against this background, key events loom in the lives of the main characters. Director Izuru Narusima tried to examine Yamamoto’s heroic reputation from diametrically opposite sides. But despite all the author’s delights, the picture does not reveal a real drama that can arouse the desire to look behind the decorative facade of military history.
The brainchild of Clint Eastwood
When listing films about the war with Japan, one should definitely mention Clint Eastwood's own project entitled “Flags of Our Fathers” (2006). The source of inspiration for the creators of the picture was the battle for the island of Iwo Jima. For many of our compatriots, the tragic history is almost unknown, but for the United States and Japan, the events of the monthly siege of a tiny piece of land are a real collection of heroic deeds on both sides of the front line. It was from this position that Eastwood approached the creative plan, having shot two spectacular films. One of them shows the battle and its terrifying consequences through the eyes of the American Marines, the second glorifies the selfless stamina of the Japanese military. The picture, which captures the US national flag at the highest point of the island, has become one of the most recognizable symbols of the heroism of American soldiers. It is to the six daredevils who established the banner that one of the sides of the "Iwo Jima" Eastwood medal is dedicated.
The film about the war between Japan and America called "Letters from Iwo Jima" is "Flags of Our Fathers" through the eyes of the Japanese. He depicts the battle that has taken place from a Japanese point of view, played by the actors of this country, filmed in their native language. But both of Clint Eastwood’s paintings are not two versions of events, we are talking about two points of view: how they saw from here - and how they saw from there. Cinema has an unconventional lighting solution. In battle episodes, it is gray, which gives the narrative the appearance of war chronicles, and the blood and fire in the picture are frighteningly bright, colored, saturated.
Mini-series and an epic canvas about the madness of the military of all stripes
The second joint project of T. Hanks and S. Spielberg mini-series "Pacific" on the solidity and scale of the view on the Second World War is comparable to "Brothers in Arms", but its events are developing in the Asian theater of operations. The project includes an abundance of plot twists and turns, heroes, battle scenes and battle details. This mini-masterpiece may be of interest to our compatriots, because few people know about the Guadalcanal campaign.
The film of the main "blockbuster" director of his time, David Lean, "The Bridge over the River Kwai" can also be attributed to films about the war with Japan. Within 155 minutes, the narrative tells the story of captured British troops working under the supervision of the Japanese on the construction of a strategically important bridge in Burma. Cinema, of course, is a little outdated, but it causes interest in that part of the war, which you rarely see from the screen.