Toei to produce another big war movie

Satoru Tokushige and Yosuke Kubozuka will star in Toei's another WWII movie, following up on the big hit "YAMATO" during the past holiday season.  The film, "Orewa Kimi no tamenikoso Shiniyuku" (literal translation "I will die only for you"), with 1.8 billion yen budget, will have Tokyo governer Shintaro Ishihara as the executive producer and screenwriter, and will be directed by Taku Shinjo.  (Note:  Governer Ishihara was originally a novelist before going into politics.)

The story is the real-world stories of Kamikaze squad members and will be told through the eyes of late Tome Torihama, who were looked upon by the members as "mother of Kamikaze".  The filming will start in Chiran city in Kagoshima today.

Satoru Tokushige, the hopeful of Ishihara Production (established by late Yujiro Ishihara, Governer Shintaro's younger brother and top movie star in the 60's), and Yosuke Kubozuka ("GO") will play the young Kamikaze members, and Tome will be played by Keiko Kishi.

All the main cast were asked to have their hair in the crew cut, and had the training at Japan Ground Self Defence Forces.

The film is scheduled to be released in summer 2007.

Source:  SANSPO

Comments

[Chris]

Michi,

I read your comments the other day, and I have spent all weekend trying to come up with a response!!!

Well, here you go...

I definitely understand your point of view in regards to the making of this film. Just as an aside, I briefly knew a German exchange student while I was attending high school in Albuquerque, NM. When she visited the German language class I was attending, she was subjected to an unending barrage of questions about World War II and the Holocaust. She replied that high school students in Germany spend an entire year studying World War II. Therefore, she really didn't want to discuss those subjects. Basically, she was bored with those subjects. In a larger sense, she was correct. After being bombarded with all of that information, you do tend to get numb, whether it is the Holocaust, World War II, or any other subject for that matter. Thus, I can totally understand your point of view.

In the case of this film, however, if it wasn't for the unexpected success of "Otokotachi no Yamato" this past Christmas, then this film probably wouldn't have been funded and given the green light. Since the story about the kamikaze pilots is so well known, I'd say that the filmmakers should be under some pressure to tell us something new about the kamikaze pilots. If they don't, then I'd say that the filmmakers in this case are just hopping on the bandwagon.

You're absolutely correct about "Bokoku no Aegis". Besides the great cast, "Aegis" dealt with a number of contemporary issues that are now starting to get discussed.

Chris

[Michi]

Thanks, Chris, for your comments! For this one, actually, I had "that" reaction - oh, no, another WWII movie by the extreme rightist Ishihara... I actually was a big supporter of "AEGIS" and certainly don't mind having all different types of movies, including whatever left-wing or right-wing stuff - we should have all the different flavors, but honestly speaking, I am a bit tired of it. It is just not my taste... I have heard enough of tragedy of Kamikaze and Hiroshima and all that since my childhood, and recently with all those movies. I liked "AEGIS" because that was dealing with the current issues and not nostalgia. While I DO wish the best of luck for Yosuke Kubozuka, I have a bit of reservation about the movie itself.

[Chris]

Now this certainly sounds interesting.

Anything Yosuke Kubozuka does is worth a look. I'm sure that I'm not alone when I write that Yosuke Kubozuka should be a HUGE international film star by now. Unfortunately, this is not the case. He's done some great work for J-dramas ("Omiai Kekkon", "Ikebukuro West Gate Park") and some amazing film work ("Ping Pong", "Go"). Hopefully, this will be his comeback film. He really could use a hit to get his career back on track.

Unfortunately, this film will probably get a lot of bad press and notoriety for its association with Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara. There are people out there who will criticize anything and everything he does. I can see the newspapers here in South Korea going crazy about this film and its relation with Mr. Ishihara, so don't expect a South Korean release for this film when it comes out.

Just as an aside, I've read that there were over 100 kamikaze pilots of Korean ethnicity during WWII. An interesting fact that gets glossed over ("whitewashed") here in South Korea.

Here's hoping that the film is a good one.