Posted on 02/23/2007 6:06:59 AM PST by libstripper
Clint Eastwood's, "Letters From Iwo Jima," is a brilliantly made film that is up for Best Picture at the Academy Awards this Sunday. It has already won the Golden Globe for Best Picture. Nonetheless, it is a terribly misleading film.
(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...
"He supported Nixon in the 60s and was elected to office as a Republican 20 years ago, that naturally led people to think is was conservative by Hollywood standards."
Heck,
MICHAEL MOORE
is "conservative by Hollywood standards".....!!!
Thanks for the comparison. Mrs. jimfree and I watched Das Boot on dvd several months ago. Don't recall anything mentioned the war in North Africa or the Pacific. The film had a clear focus and frame of reference. It described the arduousness of sub duty and the bravery and resourcefulness of the sub service; it did that for me rather than promote a point of view on who was at fault in the war. From your comments it seems that Letters... may be doing the same thing. Haven't seen it yet so can't comment directly. And, absolutely, Das Boot is the best war movie at least since All Quiet on the Western Front, maybe of all time.
You should see "Stalingrad" by the same director.
Awesome.
Awesome.
Indeed? Thanks for the suggestion.
Wolfgang Peterson directed "Stalingrad"?
Joseph Vilsmaier directed the 1993 movie Stalingrad.
I'm proud to say that my grandfather was a member of the "Jungleers," the 41st Sunset Division of the U.S. Army who helped liberate both New Guinea and the Phillipines.
He's gone now, but I've spent some time acquiring books written about the 41st, to learn as much as possible about these missions, since the Marines were involved in the higher profile WWII Pacific battles (Iwo Jima, Solomons, etc.).
"the ending was absolutely the saddest.... '
I saw Das Boot in a theater with an excellent sound system. As the submarine came under heavy pressure submerged, the croaking and groaning of the hull made it sound as if the walls of the theater were collapsing. It was claustrophobic, I tell ya.
Their experimentation on live human beings made the Germans look like pikers.
Unit 731, and its history, is simply grisly.
No one should forget the atrocities that the Japanese military have committed in the territories they occupied during WWII. But more than 60 years after that war I think it is time to put that history in perspective and look at it from all angles and distinguish facts from propaganda.
First of all I think it is not correct to compare Imperial Japan with Nazi Germany. It is one of those relics that propaganda has left us and it is still the general view held by many. Hitler Germany was dominated by one man and a small group of followers. This relatively little group controlled and directed the German Nazi machine. Although Japan may seem similar at first glance, after all they had the Emperor cult, the facts show totally different picture. Power in Japan was, and still is, an uneasy compromise between different groups. During the Pacific War there was the rivalry and mutual distrust between the army and the navy. It was so bad that in the case of the occupied Dutch Indies, although they each controlled bordering regions, they communicated with each other via Tokyo. In the film something of that mutual aversion was shown in the vexation that Kuribayashi showed when he found out that defense preparations were taken without consulting the navy.
In the German army there was the Befehl ist Befehl (an order is an order) culture. The Japanese forces, or rather the Japanese power structure as a whole, has always been plagued by unruly officers who would just ignore orders when they do not suit their ideology. That’s how the war started in China to begin with. In spite of strict orders by the emperor himself the Kwangtung army started hostilities. The imperial order to punish the culprits was just ignored. This phenomenon was also aptly portayed in the film.
This for a great part explains the difference in the treatment of POW’s and civilians in different areas. From brutal murder and maltreatment to a civil treatment according to the rules – and let this also be said – and directives of Tokyo.
Yes, the Japanes forces have committed all kinds of horrific crimes against humanity but let’s not forget that strictly speaking the treatment of native Americans by US soldiers and authorities would now be considered etnical cleansing and even genocide. And before we accuse the Japanes military of barbarism let’s also consider the fact that American military have sent the skulls of Japanese soldiers home as a memento.
And here is another thing to think about: who forced the Japanese out of their isolation some 6 decades before the Pacific War in the first place?
No, they were in the same class. It's a pity though that the one who was responsible was let go by the occupying forces in exchange for his data.
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