Sunsets, Stars, West, Wind
Animated Film On The ‘Kamikaze Plane’ Hits A Nerve In Asia
A new Miyazaki film causing some controversy in Asia. Hope I don’t have to wait years for the subtitled or dubbed version to hit America.
Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon
Read in June 2013
Unbroken was the May (and unexpectedly June) 2013 selection for Stranger Than Fiction book discussion group sponsored by the Kansas City Public Library. I covered all the bases on this one, trying to get my husband to read along with me, but alas his health took a turn for the worse during this time, so the hardcover edition I checked out from the library for him sat gathering dust. Meanwhile, I alternated between the ebook edition, checked out through the library’s Overdrive app on my Android smartphone, and the audiobook on CD (also checked out from the library). I much prefer listening to non-fiction than reading it. Nothing puts me to sleep faster than non-fiction, but I soon became ensnared by the riveting, nearly unbelievable facts, told in Unbroken.
Earlier this year, I joined the Stranger Than Fiction book group because I felt I needed to expand my reading horizons. I often find myself in a repetitive reading rut, gorging on epic fantasy or the occasional fun space opera, but nothing much else of substance. The only non-fiction I regularly imbibe in are technical manuals for the software I support at work. I’ve read so many of those, I think I could do technical writing in my sleep.
Unbroken often made me wince, and cry, and despair for an end to the torture and cruelty. I learned things about the Pacific conflict during World War II that I did not learn in school, nor from countless war movies I’ve watched over the last three decades. On the one hand, I’m appalled at the treatment of our POWs by the Japanese. On the other, I’m disappointed in our education system for focusing too much time on the European theater (because we have a collective societal racial bias towards the Western World?).
Some of the discussion questions from our group meeting follow:
What made it so Louie could survive?
One reader began discussing something he’d read about varying levels of testosterone. We discussed Mac’s panicky eating of all the chocolate, where one of us quipped ‘death by chocolate’ and immediately retracted by stating ‘How dare I?’ because none of us knows how we would react in a similar situation.
What did you find most remarkable about three survivors on the ocean?
Our discussion leader’s immediate answer was ‘not eating Mac.’ Forty-seven days on a raft, half of their body weight lost, he asked us if we would consider cannibalism? He further went on to define two different types of cannibalism: necro and homicidal. I jumped in to this discussion, stating that after reading The Terror by Dan Simmons, I’d never, ever resort to cannibalism. Some discussion resulted in the medical research and reasoning for why it is never a good idea to eat your fellow-man.
In the 30s and 40s, were Germany and Japan’s acts of mass atrocities the worst in history? What causes a society to stoop to this? Do we all carry this capacity for cruelty around inside of us?
Discussion resulted about authoritarian or totalitarian regimes and people being like sheep (even today) and preferring to be led around and told what to do. Our leader provided a quote from Conservatives Without Conscience by John Dean. I don’t have the exact words from my notes, but something about they ‘like being in charge’ and the ‘followers like feeling safe.’ One reader talked about sociopaths and psychopaths making up 20% of the population (now and then). Another reader mentioned an experiment conducted in the 60s or 70s where a group of people were divided up in to prisoners and guards and another study about blue and brown-eyed people.
Louie appeared to be the beneficiary of several miracles: his escape from the plane; the bullets missing all occupants of the raft during several strafing runs; and, singing angels in the clouds overhead. Someone made mention of the Best Years of Our Lives movie.
Would Louie have been justified in plotting to kill the Bird? Would that have been moral? Would he have felt better had he returned to Japan?
His anger is justifiable and understandable, a normal reaction to being wronged. Our discussion leader quoted several passages from a Guideposts article written by the author: “The Power of Forgiveness” Another reader compared Unbroken to the movies “The Grey” and “Life of Pi.”
∞ ∞ ∞
Next month we read Undaunted Courage by Stephen E. Ambrose.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Read in April 2009
This book is outstanding and well deserving of its many awards. Even better, it is classified as young adult fiction. And I hope one day, soon, The Book Thief is read and taught in classrooms around the world … because everyone should read this book.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to grow up and come of age in Nazi Germany during World War II? Not as a Jew, but as a German citizen – a foster child recently bereft of her younger brother.
Lisa’s coping mechanism is to steal books. In fact, her first theft occurs at her brother’s funeral. One of the cemetery workers drops The Gravediggers Handbook in the snow and Lisa snatches it up. Later, her new “papa” teachers her to read using this stolen book.
Her most daring theft occurred at a Hitler Youth Rally book burning. She rescued The Shoulder Shrug right out of the bonfire!
The story is narrated by Death who is the ultimate book thief. He stole Lisa’s autobiography when he collected her soul many years after the war. He has read her story so many times, the pages are crumbling in his hands. He admits at the end of the story that he no longer needs the pages because he’s memorized it from re-reading it so often.
I hope you will follow in Death’s footsteps and steal this book and remember it always.
36 Hours (1965)
4 out of 5 stars
I liked this film quite a bit. Starring such well known actors as “James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, and Rod Taylor. … On 2 June 1944, a German army doctor tries to obtain vital information from an American military intelligence officer by convincing him that it is 1950 and World War II is long over.” (Wikipedia contributors. “36 Hours.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 23 Jul. 2012. Web. 25 Aug. 2012.)
Terry joined me for the last half of the film and it kept his interest, which is saying quite a bit for the black-and-white format. I actually liked the quality of the cinematography, as I’m paying particular attention to gray scale presently as I start learning to sketch with pencil.
In reading through the Background list in the Wikipedia article, I see that science fiction television took this plot and ran with it (ST:TOS, ST:TNG, Mission: Impossible, Buzz Lightyear, etc.). By the end of the movie, I wondered if James Garner’s characer would ever trust a clock or a calendar again.
They Were Expendable (1945)
3 out of 5 stars
Not exactly what I expected from a Ford/Wayne film. Not sure why Donna Reed even bothered to appear in it.
Filmed during WWII, but released after the war ended. I just didn’t connect with the characters. I need to find a better or different film to get a feel for our fight in the Pacific (outside of Pearl Harbor films).
It felt war weary, although it was about the Battle of the Philippines early in WWII.
Similar to The Desert Fox, the musical score made heavy uses of the Navy Song “Anchors Aweigh” and the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” I did tear up when I heard “Taps” played on a harmonica for a slap-dash funeral of two crewman of Wayne’s destroyed PT boat.
The Desert Fox (1951)
4 out of 5 stars
I nearly jumped for joy when DirecTV announced the arrival of a ‘new’ HD channel to their line-up: TCM (Turner Classic Movies). I much prefer to watch ‘old’ movies when I get a chance. Just like ‘old’ books, there are so many lost gems to be found, read (or watched). I spent thirty minutes scrolling through two weeks worth of schedule, seeking the four and five star treasures among the chaff of late night B (or C) 1950s science fiction or horror films. By the way, if you’re a Johnny Weismuller fan, you might want to check out this Friday’s Tarzan marathon. But I digress.
One of the first movies I flagged to record happened to be The Desert Fox. I knew some of the highlights of Rommel‘s military career as a field marshal, especially in North Africa, and his mysteriously in congruent and quiet death late in World War II. Released just six years after the war ended, 20th Century Fox took a risk in filming from the point of view of the enemy, albeit of a highly and widely respected man.
I thought the film held up well (being over sixty years old now). Jessica Tandy gave a superb and convincing portrayal of Rommel’s wife as well as James Mason as Rommel. Actual vintage war footage appeared throughout the film, include a brief clip of Eisenhower addressing the troops, presumably on D-Day.
And speaking of D-Day, the musical score during the war footage flashback montage started off with the Air Force anthem, ‘Off We Go Into the Wild Blue Yonder’ (when depicting the air raids), and switched to the Nay anthem, ‘Anchors Aweigh’ (when depicting the mighty guns of the battleships pounding the European coast). I did not discern either the Army song or the Marine’s Hymn, but probably just lost track of the melodies amidst the bombardments.
I have added Desmond Young’s biography of Rommel to my ‘To Read’ list. Unfortunately, it’s not yet available (and may never be made available) in ebook format, but my local library in Leavenworth has a hardcover print copy available and waiting for me on the shelf. It seems to be surprisingly short (under three hundred pages), so would make a quick read on a weekend. A bit of trivia as respects the movie, The Desert Fox: the author, Desmond Young, appeared in the film as himself. He actually met Rommel, briefly, as a soldier in the Indian Army, when he became a prisoner of war in the North African theater.
The Counterfeiters (2007)Winner of the 2007 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Terry and I avoided watching the actual Oscars Award ceremony last Sunday evening by watching a previously recorded to DVR copy of The Counterfeiters, an Austrian-German foreign language film that won an Oscar five years previously.
It fictionalizes Operation Bernhard, a secret plan by the Nazis during the Second World War to destabilize the United Kingdom by flooding its economy with forged Bank of England bank notes. The film centers on a Jewish counterfeiter, Salomon ‘Sally’ Sorowitsch, who is coerced into assisting the Nazi operation at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.
The film is based on a memoir written by Adolf Burger, a Jewish Slovak typographer who was imprisoned in 1942 for forging baptismal certificates to save Jews from deportation, and was later interned at Sachsenhausen to work on Operation Bernhard.[2] Ruzowitsky consulted closely with Burger through almost every stage of the writing and production. The film won the 2007 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar at the 80th Academy Awards.
Not an easy film to watch, of course. Nothing focusing on the Holocaust and Nazi concentration camps is ever easy to watch and never should be. Even with the handicap of having to read subtitles, I found it easy to keep up with the story. But, in the end, I found it difficult to relate to any of the characters, so I failed to make a meaningful emotional connection. I admired Burger, who kept sabotaging Sorowitsch’s efforts to counterfeit the dollar.
Red Tails (2012)3.5 to 4 out of 5 stars
As an early Valentine’s Day dinner and a movie date, Terry and I dined at Red Lobster Sunday afternoon and visited the AMC Barrywoods movie theater to watch Red Tails on a ‘big’ screen. Neither of us had been to this particular theater in years, since we prefer to watch the few movies we see each year on the biggest screen in the Kansas City metro area, #7 at the Legends 14 Phoenix Theater. We enjoyed the close proximity of the handicapped parking though, something not readily available at the Legends. We bypassed the concession stand, having just stuffed ourselves on seafood, and saved our pocket books from the incredibly overpriced snack items for sale (especially as compared to the prices at the Phoenix theater).
While I had heard of the Tuskegee Airmen, I knew next to nothing about their service during World War II. So I cannot verify the authenticity of the film with respect to historical facts. I can affirm a well told tale with fantastic visuals, heart-thumping aerial dogfights and a bit of romance that overcomes race and language barriers.
This year, and today specifically, marks the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. For as long as I have been alive, each December 7th brought me the voice of then President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaiming this day to be “a date which will live in infamy.” And so it has. Even one of my favorite films immortalizes for future generations: Tora! Tora! Tora! (which I consider to be fairly historically accurate). The more dramatic and entertaining Pearl Harbor released in 2001 gets the blood surging, but does not satisfy me need to ‘real life’ accuracy. Contrived romantic entanglements pale before the gritty details and courage our soldiers exhibited under fire.
Yesterday, while waiting for my bagel to toast at the lobby coffee shop, I picked up a free copy of the winter edition of ‘Our Daily Bread.’ Even though I follow them on Twitter, I often miss their daily tweets because they occur so early in the morning or get lost in the other Twitter clutter. Normally, I wouldn’t have bothered beyond reading the entry for yesterday and returning it to the stack for someone else to benefit form its wisdom. But after the discouraging news I received Monday about my husband’s health, I am seeking support and encouragement at every turn. Now, I have a daily reminder on my desk to connect me to hope and to encourage me to live in faith with God’s Will.
Here’s an excerpt from today’s article entitled ‘This Do In Remembrance‘:
When a US Navy vessel arrives or departs from the military bases in Pearl Harbor, the crew of that ship lines up in dress uniform. They stand at attention at arm’s length on the outer edges of the deck, in salute to the soldiers, sailors, and civilians who died on December 7, 1941. It is a stirring sight, and participants often list it among the most memorable moments of their military career.
Even for spectators on shore, the salute triggers an incredible emotional connection, but especially between the servants of today and the servants of yesterday. It grants nobility to the work of today’s sailor, while giving dignity to the sacrifice of those from the past.
And I’ll close with an excerpt from President Barrack Obama’s Proclamation for National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (2011) issued yesterday:
On a serene Sunday morning 70 years ago, the skies above Pearl Harbor were darkened by the bombs of Japanese forces in a surprise attack that tested the resilience of our Armed Forces and the will of our Nation. As explosions sounded and battleships burned, brave service members fought back fiercely with everything they could find. Unbeknownst to these selfless individuals, the sacrifices endured on that infamous day would galvanize America and come to symbolize the mettle of a generation.
In the wake of the bombing of our harbor and the crippling of our Pacific Fleet, there were those who declared the United States had been reduced to a third-class power. But rather than break the spirit of our Nation, the attack brought Americans together and fortified our resolve. Patriots across our country answered the call to defend our way of life at home and abroad. They crossed oceans and stormed beaches, freeing millions from the grip of tyranny and proving that our military is the greatest force for liberty and security the world has ever known. On the home front, dedicated civilians supported the war effort by repairing wrecked battleships, working in factories, and joining civilian defense organizations to help with salvage programs and plant Victory gardens. At this time of great strife, we reminded the world there is no challenge we cannot meet; there is no challenge we cannot overcome.
On National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, we honor the more than 3,500 Americans killed or wounded during that deadly attack and pay tribute to the heroes whose courage ensured our Nation would recover from this vicious blow. Their tenacity helped define the Greatest Generation and their valor fortified all who served during World War II. As a Nation, we look to December 7, 1941, to draw strength from the example set by these patriots and to honor all who have sacrificed for our freedoms.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Wonderful, exceptional, loved every page. I find myself unable to describe what truly astonishes me about this novel without giving away huge spoilers. I laughed, I cried, my heart filled to bursting and erupted with hope and inspiration.
All Clear picks up where Blackout abruptly ended, back in the Blitz, London during the Blackout, the air raids, the shelters, life marches on for the stoic British citizens. Our stranded time-traveling historians face the facts, for the most part, and buckle down to survive. Rationing recipes, holding down jobs, wondering if the next air raid will destroy your employer’s building or your home, constant commute disruptions caused by bombed out streets, communication disruptions (telephone lines down and mail slowed to a crawl), doing the odd heroic rescue on the side, and don’t forget the rehearsals for the latest diversionary play performed in the underground tube stations by the hodgepodge of amateur actors directed by none other than Sir Godfrey.
Connie Willis revealed the essence of Britain during the Second World War through these glimpses into the everyday lives of it’s citizens.
Now that I have reached the end, and seen all the pieces fall into place, I must re-read both novels to truly appreciate the masterful ingenious tale crafted by Connie Willis.
