Summary:
A British officer tries to bridge a cultural divide in a Japanese POW camp.
My Thoughts:
I’m not going to lie, the only reason I watched this movie was because David Bowie (“The Man Who Fell to Earth”) starred in it. Bowie is my favorite musical artist, and I’ve slowly been working my way through the movies he’s in. While I love Bowie and think he’s one of the most brilliant, inventive, evolutionary artists to ever grace this planet with his presence, I think he’s only a decent actor. Sure, he steals scene after scene in “Labyrinth”, but it’s kind of hard not to be the center of attention when you’re wearing such a flamboyant costume and sporting such an- erm- eye-catching hairdo. And while he’s had minor, more subdued roles before (“The Prestige”), he’s always been a touch eccentric. I was sort of interested to see how he would do in a roll like this; a very serious, very straightforward everyman caught in a situation that would test his steel.
“Today I am Father Christmas.”
British POWs Celliers (Bowie) and Lawrence (“Reuben, Reuben”) are held captive at a Japanese POW camp with a number of other British soldiers. Among their captors are Yonoi (Ryuichi Sakamoto, Oscar winning composer of “The Last Emperor”) and Hara (Takeshi Kitano, “Ghost in the Shell (2017)”). As the captors and prisoners attempt to understand the cultural differences that divide them, growing tensions and violence threaten their already strained relationship.
I think the thing that I liked most about this film was the main themes that it addressed. This film is about the inherent atrocities that come with waging wars, about the inherent differences between cultures and how that affects our relationships with those cultures, but it’s also about the parts of humanity that are true to all of us, no matter what culture: the desire for acceptance, compassion, and respect. War is complex, particularly because the sides are often rigidly defined, while the truth of the situation is much harder to discern; there are very few situations in war that are black and white- in real life it’s not as simple as Sith vs Jedi; Mordor vs the powers of Good. In real life, every single person wages a kind of war within themselves; who will they be in this instance, and how will that affect the people around them?
This film is filled with many nuanced ideas about what it means to coexist in a place where people are forced to coexist. Our main characters are all strong in their beliefs; some think of honor as the most important aspect of their lives, and to die a good death would be better than to be caught and dishonored by the enemy; other people will do whatever it is they have to do in order to survive- regardless of how they are perceived after doing what they’ve done; and still other characters try to bridge the divide between those who are so completely opposed to one another. It’s interesting because none of the characters in this film are portrayed as wholly good or wholly bad: they’re all complex, and through their frustrations, they become more compelling.
There are some scenes that really stand out above the others. SPOILERS FOLLOW. Perhaps one of the best scenes was the botched seppuku ceremony. It was both disturbing and amazing, for it perfectly demonstrated of cultural differences between the captured British soldiers, whom just wanted the Japanese soldier who was committing suicide to be put out of his misery, and the Japanese soldier who was responsible for lopping off the suicide’s head, but refused to do so because his form wasn’t good enough.
Verdict:
This is a pretty solid flick. It feels a bit like “The Bridge on the River Kwai” and “The Great Escape” (other POW camp movies), but this one focuses more on bridging the divide than it does hammering in more of a wedge between the opposing forces. I do think that it has a few pacing problems throughout, but it almost makes up for them completely with the shots of gorgeous locations, the solid performances, and the haunting soundtrack.
Review Written By: